


motel escapade

by MidnightsNightmares



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: KUKUI HELPS YOU THROUGH A PANIC ATTACK GOOD STUFF, Other, ROTOM HAS A CUTE CRUSH ON YOU OKAY, ROTOM SEES YOU AND SAYS OH GOLLY GEE THEY'RE CUTE, and reader is protecting gladion from his mom, moon and reader are two separate people, okay but its the anime instead of ash its moon, reader has escaped from team skull and gladion is hiding them, this is complicated just ask questions if you need to
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-18 01:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 39,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9357128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightsNightmares/pseuds/MidnightsNightmares
Summary: You're an escapee of Team Skull. While running, you find Gladion struggling to get by. You take him in and hide him from his mother, and in return, he protects you from Guzma.





	1. Chapter 1

_It's so hot._

  
Spending her first few weeks in the Alola region, Moon had one thing to say about the praised vacation region: It was _tortuously hot._ Everyone she knew back in her old home Kanto had asked her what her favorite part of the Alola region was, and all she was able to respond with was _it's so hot._ All this time she complained about the unbearable weather in Kanto back in her little home, but it was nothing compared to the way the ground under her feet felt like it burned through her shoes and singed the soles of her feet. Sandals were definitely out of the question, and she had no idea how Kiawe walked around without a shirt all the time. He - along with everyone else she'd met so far - had been born and raised in the Alola region, so the heat was little to nothing to them. Sometimes Lana - thin, pale, and small as she was - complained about a little sun burn on her nose, but otherwise, they all seemed like they knew how to handle the weather here.

  
Moon however...

  
If she wasn't careful, the sun would scorch her skin to a bright, unnatural red. She could barely say anything else about the region itself. Nothing about how beautiful the beachfront she could see from the front of her house was, or how amazing it was to see all the astounding regional differences in some of the Pokemon she knew...

  
But at least she was able to make some friends. Moon was over all uncomfortable in her own skin here, but there were some open minded people who were more than glad to welcome her with open arms. The Pokemon school here was definitely different, but at least she had people to speak for. It's better than moping around and shying away all the time because everyone labeled her as the new girl. Everyone in the Alola region was... strangely kind.

  
Moon dragged her feet to school this morning. Typically Kukui walked there with her, strangely peppy for the earlier hours. He probably worked late hours in his lab, so the lack of sleep likely didn't effect him anymore. He and his Rockruff happily strode alongside her, the Rockruff occasionally painfully brushing against her legs with his rocks, but she ignored the rough feeling and reached down to scratch the fur under his chin. Kukui's eyes twinkled at their interaction, pleased that Moon was already acquainted with the new Pokemon to find here.

  
The morning lessons were always the worse. It was technical stuff, like how a Poke Ball was built and how it worked. It was boring, but Moon's pencil scratched quickly against her paper, sure to keep up with Kukui's instructional ramblings. From behind, Sophocles fingers worked on his laptop just as fast as she was writing the words down. The rest of them had either chosen to not take notes, or to simply memorize them in their heads. It seemed lazy, but someone like Lillie or Lana didn't need notes to comprehend later. They just seemed to get the material once it was taught. Moon wished she could be like that, just for once so her mother could look at a progress report with all A's and happily pat her daughter on her back. Not that she didn't do that now, but at least it would be over A's instead of C's or the occasional B's.

  
By the time lunch came around, Moon felt relieved. All of their Pokemon recognized the distant chimed and looked to their trainers in anticipation of lunch. As per usual since Moon arrived at the school, she offered to go get the food from the closet down the hall. Mallow insisted she followed Moon, just so she could help Moon get used to the layout of the school. It was unnecessarily nice of her - too nice of her, along with everyone else - because Moon had been here for weeks and if she didn't know this building upside down at this point, she might as well quit going to this place all together.

  
"All these school picturezzz... Mallow, when are we supposed to get one too?!"

  
Rotom snapped Moon out of her thoughts.

  
"Pictures? ...Oh, those."

  
Mallow came back out of the closet with a bag of Pokemon food in hand. It's a more discreet part of the school, but she's been back here multiple times at this point. Just because she's nice. But she's never noticed the collage of class photos lining the walls of the area. They were placed strangely, Moon noticed. Why would you put class photos back here if there were a lot more at the front of the school? Rotom was buzzing about though, going along and examining each one, snapping photos where it felt like it needed to.

  
Mallow seemed to still, her soft features suddenly going a little more than plain rigid. The photos at a mere glance unsettled her, and that tension moved and thrived into Moon's own bones.

"Um... I'm sure Professor Kukui will take another class photo soon so we can update it. These are just really old photos."

  
Much to Mallow's displeasure, Moon moved a bit closer to the photos. Rotom has finally stopped and settled on a singular photo to look at. Contrary to Mallow's claims, the one Rotom was examining seemed recent. In fact, glancing at the date, it was recent. Moon had to wonder what it would be doing back here, but upon studying the photo closer, she noticed something.

  
There was someone standing in it that she'd never met before.

  
"Zzt! I've detected a pattern in these photozzz!"

  
They both look up at Rotom.

  
"This person... izzz in all of them! But they're not here now. Did something happen?"

  
Mallow heaved up the bag of Pokemon food a little further in her arms. Her little Bounsweet was no doubt waiting for her return, along with all their other Pokemon who were hungry. The room was suddenly darker than it was before, feeling a bit more constricted and narrow. It was Mallow's suspicious behavior that put Moon off slightly. Maybe there was something she'd yet to learn about this place despite the time she's already spent in the building. Moon didn't know what it was, but by the way Mallow's knuckles were turning barely white while clutching the food to her chest, it wasn't hard to conclude this wasn't a great topic to press on.

  
"It's... nothing happened to them. It's just that we don't talk to them anymore. They... sorta just stopped talking to us."

  
"Really, zzt? Are they okay?" Rotom pressed, clearly not picking up on the obvious discomfort in the air.

  
Mallow avoided her gaze. Suddenly, Moon felt cold.

  
"They're fine. It's a really long story though. But..."

  
Mallow closed the closet door with the heel of her foot. Rotom hovered closer to Moon, curious to see what Mallow was going to do, having finally picked up on something amiss in the situation. Mallow sighed.

  
"I'd like to think they're a good person, but with what they did..."

  
Mallow stopped talking. The sentence was left unfinished.

  
"...Hey, um. I bet our Pokemon are hungry. Let's take them the food."

  
It's strange to not see Mallow so happy and excited to do something, but Moon ignored it for now. It's something that should be left for later. But what she said dug deep into Moon's mind. Whoever that person was, they did something that left the rest of them unsettled. It was recent too. Moon glanced back at the picture curiously, making Mallow just that much more unsettled, but she couldn't help it.

  
They looked so innocent in the picture. There was a Mimikyu held close to their chest, and a shy smile on their face. It was definitely unordinary to label a face like that to do something bad.

  
Moon had to wonder...

  
Moon decided to drop it though. It wasn't necessary. Plucking Rotom out of the air, the Poke Dex made a buzz of displeasure and squirmed a little in her hands as she walked toward Mallow with a smile. Mallow seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she cut in front of her and held the door out of the hallway for her. The walk back to the class room was filled with forced conversation in Mallow's usual positivity, casually pointing things out like the stray Pikipek that were gathering around the bowls of food they put out, but she was awful at hiding her uneasiness.

  
Coming back into the classroom had to be the worse though. Lana and Lillie raised their hands in greeting, along with Kiawe and Sophocles turning their heads to look at them, but the second they saw the uneasy smile on Mallow's face, they all were curious. Mallow set out to start feeding their Pokemon, Moon's own Popplio running over to join Lana's Popplio in partaking in a nice lunch. Moon avoided their stares. She should probably direct the subject to elsewhere. Kukui was busy with something at the front of the classroom, not taking notice to anything behind him.

  
Sophocles turned back to his laptop, losing interest in what was happening behind him. He must have caught on and decided to ignore it.

  
"Oh!"

  
And suddenly, Kukui was paying attention.

  
"I didn't bring them. Kiddos, it seems the lesson might end a little early."

  
They all looked at him curiously as he turned around to look at them all sheepishly. A little Rockruff by his ankles looked away bashfully. Kukui glanced down at him and laughed.

  
"Or... maybe someone got a little too hungry, waiting for something to eat?"

  
Rockruff let out a soft whimper. Kukui reached down to softly rub at the fur above the rocks around his neck, and the bashfulness melted away as the Rockruff moved into Kukui's affectionate petting. Picking the little tricky dog up into his arms, Kukui smiled.

  
"It's a little too early to leave though. Wait until the bell rings, yeah?"

  
They all nodded. Kukui was getting his stuff together, preparing to leave, but stopped when he noticed Moon glancing out the window briefly. She didn't see anything out there, but approaching Mallow right now felt wrong. She personally didn't ask anything about this new person she's never met (because Rotom had a tendency to go off on spiels she could never stop in time).

  
Kukui gave Rockruff a gentle pat on the head as he turned toward her fully.

  
"Moon! Could you help me with this? I've heard people from Kanto know lots about berries."

  
Berries. Today's lesson was supposed center around berries. Huh. They really did teach the little things here in Alola. But where would he hear something as stupid as that? People in Kanto knowing a lot about berries? It's weird, but she doesn't protest against it. It didn't take her a long time to piece together that Kukui was just searching for an excuse to let her leave class early. Ah, the perks of being a teachers pet. She wouldn't mind leaving earlier after that weird encounter with Mallow. She grabbed her bag and nodded. Rotom hovered over her shoulder, having been curiously looking at the food the other Pokemon were scarfing down in the distance.

  
"C'mon," She told Rotom, getting its attention. It turned toward her and then smiled. She called over her Popplio, who finished up eating quickly and then bounded toward her, happily getting in it's Poke Ball.

  
Waving everyone a good day, Moon followed Kukui but before she did, she caught Mallow's gaze. Mallow offered a warm smile from across the room, but it was silently asking not to bring up what happened to Kukui. Moon considered it, waving at Mallow before she followed Kukui out the door.

  
Cuddling Rockruff in one arm, Kukui used his free hand to pat her roughly on her back.

  
"Doin' good so far?"

  
Well, despite that weird incident, everything was dandy.

  
"It's been fine. It's... really hot though."

  
Kukui let out a happy chuckle.

  
"You've mentioned that at least one time a day since you got here, buddy!"

  
It was that kind of upbeat conversation that made that awkward feeling leave Moon's body. Whatever - and whoever - that was before, it didn't matter. They all seemed to have moved on from the topic, and would like to leave it that way. She kept close to Kukui, having found some comfort in him when she did come to more open areas she didn't frequent that often. It was the market area, where many encouraged and tempted them closer with a wave of their hands and berries at the ready. Rockruff looked around curiously while Rotom stopped on occasion to mark his internal map with landmarks that would be helpful if they came back here again and got lost.

  
"Zzt... yummy berriezzz. Berriezzz are super tasty. I want some! Hey, kiddo, buy me some berriezzz!"

  
It's like Rotom forgot it couldn't eat while possessing the Dex. A flaw in Kukui's design, so Rotom had to depart with it very briefly each time it needed to eat. Moon never had problems with Rotom going back in the Dex though thankfully. Luckily, it seemed Rotom liked the Dex enough to comply with her command on it. Moon sighed, thinking that it wouldn't be a bad idea to get her Pokemon and Rotom some berries. Kukui drew closer to a stand, having Moon stand beside him. Rotom glanced thoughtfully over the berries, despite Moon never giving it a yes on her buying some.

  
"Alright," She finally said. "Pick out what you want. But also make sure to get some for Popplio."

  
Rotom smiled excitedly, reaching down and plucking a few up into its "hands" and handing them to her. Kukui knew what he needed and grabbed it the second they walked up. The old woman running the stand smiled thoughtfully, and when Moon reached into her pocket for some money, she shook her head.

  
"Please. It's on the house. I don't think we've ever met before, so take this as a greeting."

  
She nodded to Kukui.

  
"You too, Kukui. Please take them."

  
Kukui smiled, gratefulness blossoming over his expression.

  
"Oh! Thank you!"

  
Moon nodded as well.

  
"Yes, thank you."

  
The old woman didn't seem fazed by the idea of losing some money for the nutrition of Pokemon. She had such a calm personality that suddenly the market area didn't seem so big and intimidating before.

  
"I'm new to Alola," Moon said. "So this means a lot to me. The people here are so nice..."

  
The old woman's grin widened.

"Oh, it's as I thought. I thought I never saw you come around with Kukui before. How are you liking the Alola region?"

  
_It's hot_ almost slipped out of her mouth again, but Moon quickly bit her tongue and gave another answer she had in stock for this kind of question.

  
"I can see a beach from my house. It's really pretty."

  
"Yes, yes. Especially when the sun sets. The waters look just like golden honey."

  
She wasn't wrong. Moon couldn't keep this conversation going on for too long though. Rotom was floating around her head, looking down at the berries in her hands. The old woman laughed and waved them both goodbye, and Moon was quick to catch up with Kukui. Rotom had tried complaining about the fact it wanted the berries now, but Moon scolded it softly and told it to wait for home. It didn't exactly please it, even going as far as to disobey her when she said to get in her bag for the moment, but instead of catering to its slight fit, she kept up with the world around her.

  
"So the lesson was going to be on berries today?" Moon asked. Kukui regarded her with an amused stare, happy to see she was curious about her lesson.

  
"Yes. Ah, I should remember to bring treats from now on so Rockruff doesn't get a little too nosy in my bag anymore."

  
The dog's previous shame had been lost, instead perking up at the mention of himself. Kukui gave the dog a soft pat on its fur and sighed. It still was pretty early for the other students to leave, so Kukui brought her home to her mother, who happily greeted her with a hug despite her surprise at seeing her home so early. Kukui commented about Moon's wellbeing in school and they held brief conversation while Moon walked to her room, Rotom eagerly following her.

  
She set the berries down on her desk and took a seat on her bed to unlace her shoes and kick them off. It was relaxing to be home so early, and she debated on what to do for the moment. She tried to forget what happened with Mallow, but something stuck out in her mind. Despite knowing she should probably respect their privacy, she sat up some and glanced at Rotom, who was staring at the berries as if it had eaten in weeks.

  
"Rotom," She called out. The Dex came closer. "The pictures you took of the class photos. Could you pull those up real quick?"

  
"Bzzt. Sure thing!"

  
A few seconds later, Moon was shown some dark images on Rotom's screen. Grabbing Rotom out of the air once more to bring it closer, she swiped across its screen and looked at the unnecessary multitude of photos that Rotom took. Each one had a close up of the person she hadn't met and a distant photo of the entire thing. She zoomed in on their face somewhat, closer to their features. She looked over them again and found the same thing she had before: innocence. How can this person do anything wrong? They looked scrawny; incapable of doing anything reckless. But appearances can be deceiving, she supposed, but she had to be curious still.

  
"It wazzz rather weird how Mallow talked about that person, huh?"

  
Rotom spoke up, breaking her out of her thoughts for a second time that day. She met Rotom's eyes for a second and sighed.

  
"I wonder what they did..."

  
"Zzt! Me too."

  
In all aspects, it was none of her business to pry into theirs. So Moon tapped away the photos and let Rotom go, laying back onto her bed with a loud sigh. Rotom hovered above her and gently landed on her forehead.

  
"The berriezzz, pleazzze!"

  
Moon groaned. Right.

  
**. . .**

  
You made sure that you were giving Mimikyu a fair amount of all the berries for his lunch. Mimikyu brushed against your legs multiple times in anticipation of the meal, and with a soft, tired smile you moved and set the bowl down in front of him. He dug in immediately, happy munching on the mixture you'd given to him. Mimikyu deserved a little treat after today is all. Moving toward the tiny table, you take a seat in the nearly uncomfortable wooden chair.

  
You watched in content as he ate, thinking about going and getting something for yourself to eat. The cooking equipment here wasn't spectacular, but it was enough to get by. The motel was lacking in anything proper to cook with specifically like pots and pans, so you were thankful that he snatched some from local store owners and brought them to you.

  
You startled when the door opened. He walked in with a heavy weight on his shoulders and a scowl on his face. It was nothing new, but you felt tempted to ask what brought it on today. There were days he was less irritated, a little more frustrated, and some days were he was outright looking to pick a fight. If only you could follow him out of the door so you could hold him back from just that.

  
He tossed a Poke Ball, and a familiar Pokemon came out. It was strange in all aspects, but you gave it a warm smile. It greeted you with a gentle head nudge, despite the armor on its head brushing against your skin nearly painfully. You accepted it though, ignoring the scrape that had already appeared on your flesh.

  
"Hard day?" You ask. He shrugged, thumping against the chair as he sat down. He looked furious, but held back on pushing it all on you. He knew you didn't deserve it, so he would often bite his tongue and cheeks raw before he snapped at you.

  
"Not really. They're all stupid."

  
"That's a given."

  
The remark manages a smile on his face. You rise and gently brush the back of your hand against his cheek. He winced, but kept it down. The discomfort was obvious, but he didn't fight against it.

  
"You look pale. Are you okay?" You asked. He nodded.

  
"Fine. I'm hungry though. So is Null. Would you mind..."

  
He didn't even need to ask anymore. You'll do it gratefully. You move behind him back toward the flimsy cheap kitchenette and flick on the stove. Null watched you curiously as you pulled things out of the mini fridge. It was getting to be around the time where you both had to seek after food again. He could pay for it, but he already made the mistake of leaving his image negative in the eyes of many of the stores around you. What you made was quick and easy, something they both could enjoy. You carefully sliced some berries and put it around both of their meals and then turned around, setting Null's down in front of it and placing his plate in front of you.

  
"...Did you eat?" He asked. He must have noticed the lack of food in the fridge.

  
"I don't need to." You reply. It was a lie. A lie that got a glare shot at you. The pain of hunger sat just in the middle of your stomach, and you did your best to live up to what you said.

  
"You go out more than me so you need your energy."

  
He looked down toward the food. After a moment's pause, he pushed the plate toward you. You sigh.

  
"Gladion..."

  
"I'll be fine. Don't destroy yourself because I'm hungry, idiot."

  
"No. You have stuff you need to do - "

  
"And hiding you away here would be pointless if you're just going to hurt yourself as badly as they could have. Don't be stupid."

  
He gave you a pointed stare and barked out a simple command.

  
"Eat."

  
You hesitated. You couldn't. It felt wrong. With a sigh, you reached out and divided up the plate evenly. Gladion watched, interested, and when you were done, you clapped your hands, drawing the attention of both of your Pokemon.

  
"There! We split it. It's a compromise."

  
Gladion frowned.

  
"It won't be enough to - "

  
"Gladion. Just eat, please. I couldn't possibly sleep tonight knowing you didn't."

  
Gladion met your gaze, and though you could definitely tell there was something he didn't like about you doing this, he gave in. He snatched a piece of the cut berry and pushed it into his mouth. It seemed to refresh him, as the berries had plenty of healing properties in them. He gave you a slight nudge with his arm, encouraging you to eat as well. You followed suit, though regretfully. The juice on your fingers felt sticky and wrong. This was supposed to feed him and keep him strong. It felt horrible to take a good healthy meal away from him. It was hard to argue with Gladion, seeing as he obviously felt the same way about you.

  
"You don't sleep enough in the first place." Gladion mumbled. The reaction felt a bit late, but you smile.

  
"I think I should say that about you."

  
He ignored the comment and finished up eating what you had given him and watched as you did the same. He wouldn't have let you throw the rest of it away. He was determined to feed you well. It felt weird to have someone so determined to protect you. But you had done it for him all this time, so he was merely returning the favor. Once the plate was empty, you put it in the sink for washing, along with the empty bowls you'd given Mimikyu and Null. It was quick work, and you set them aside to dry. Gladion had already moved onto the bed by the time you were done, and you sit back down on the chair at the table.

  
You could just feel his disapproving stare.

  
"...It's already so late. Shouldn't you come over here and sleep?"

  
He said the same thing every night. So you'll feed him the same response until he understood.

  
"You should sleep, Gladion. You know Mimikyu is more of a nocturnal Pokemon anyway. I'll stay up and play with him until he's tired."

  
It's a lie. In fact, you see Mimikyu and Null making their way over to the soft make-shift bed next to the bed you and Gladion shared. Null laid down on and quickly made itself comfortable while Mimikyu nuzzled into the best crook he could find against its body.

  
Gladion gave you an amused but stern stare.

  
"...Get over here. No, don't argue with me. I don't want to hear it."

  
He wasn't going to give up tonight, it seemed. It wouldn't kill you to sleep right now. You just felt like you had to be awake, alert at all times despite Null and Mimikyu very much capable of keeping an eye out for the both of you. Gladion pushed himself closer to the wall and you take up your usual space on the bed. He has his nose pressed against the cheap motel pillow as you bring the thin blanket up and over the both of you. Gladion shifted slightly, moving just a touch closer to you. You don't dare turn around, keeping your back to him as the TV flashed commercials about malasada and some tourist attractions around Alola.

  
He sighed.

  
"I'll turn off the TV if it makes you sleep any faster."

  
"Quit bugging me. I got in bed at least."

  
It's getting you comfortable enough to sleep is the hard part. With a groan, Gladion moved closer, enough to where he could settle his chin on your shoulder. He slung an arm around your waist. It made you tense, a little uneasy, but you reminded yourself he only did this if you were showing signs of tension. Having someone sleep beside you was highly reassuring. Besides, Gladion's actions spoke louder than his words ever could. Maybe that's why you felt so touched when he pushed the plate of food toward you earlier. It showed a little more of who he was. 

  
"You hid me from her when I needed it most," Gladion spoke softly into your ear, sending chills down your spine. "So I'll do what it takes to make sure you're safe. Don't let me look stupid for that."

  
He sounded aggressive, but there was something soft behind his words. You don't say anything. He doesn't need you to. It's the way his breaths fall even and gentle that makes your muscles lose their rigidness and fall against the rough mattress more comfortable. You glance briefly out the window where you could see the silhouettes of distant Pokemon, relieved by the sight.

  
He was right. Gladion would protect you from the one who sought you out as you had protected him from his mother. But what would it take for him to realize it wouldn't be long before he was found out about hiding you?

  
Guzma may look stupid, but you could promise Gladion one thing:

  
He wasn't.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go out to the super market for food, and two undercover Team Skull grunts spot you. You panic and flee to a ferry who brings you to Melemele island. You have no way to contact Gladion... or have any idea how you're supposed to get back unnoticed.
> 
> On the bright side, it seems a certain Poke Dex likes you a lot.

The bed was cold when you woke up.

  
Your eyes opened to meet a black-screened TV and sunlight filtering through the partially cracked open dusty window outside. There is no arm around your waist or someone resting their chin on your shoulder. Gladion was gone. You turn your head slightly to glance behind you, seeing the partial wrinkles of the sheets where he once laid. You woke up like this every morning, and for some reason you feel a little more lonely each time. Gladion saw Team Skull as an opportunity. He thought it would give himself purpose, but he also boiled it down to the idea that it was also best to keep Guzma away from you. It made you somewhat afraid to realize that he was risking himself to keep you safe by doing some of their dirty work, but you ignored it. Gladion always said to never worry, anyway.

  
Mimikyu had found his way up on the bed after Gladion had left and nuzzled his way into your arms. That typically happened too. You sat up on the bed slowly, stirring Mimikyu as well. Once he was awake, he looked around curiously. Seeing your bedhead and messy clothes must have calmed him down, as he immediately laid back down and resumed sleeping. Mimikyu was a hard Pokemon to get up in the mornings, but it was typically up and at it the second you stepped out of the shower. Grabbing a change of clothes that Gladion had found for you, you make your shower quick and easy. You let the semi-hot water hit your body and you're sure to finish fast. The water heater in the motel didn't seem so spectacular either, but who were you to judge? It's not like you're even old enough yet to have a house of your own. Still, you distantly remember a large bath tub and a nice showerhead that would cover your entire body with as much scalding water as you wanted.

  
That's... pointless to think about.

  
You step out and get dressed, coming out of the bathroom with a small huff. Mimikyu was nudging at the fridge, likely looking for a little breakfast. But you're not happy to remember you have nothing to offer him. You sigh gently, reaching down to scoop him gently up into your arms. He squirmed slightly, but soon got comfortable. You put an arm under it to support it. You don't doubt Gladion might go and get food today, but you were undeniably hungry too. Ravenous. You certainly would never want to starve Mimikyu. You hesitantly look over to where your wallet and room key card was. It felt wrong, especially since Gladion insisted that for now, inside was the safest for you.

  
Well, it probably was for him too, but he's big, bad and tough. He'll do what he wanted. But you couldn't keep yourself couped up in here forever. You did on occasion go for the briefest of walks just down the road and back. It felt uncomfortable the entire time, like every passerby's eyes were on you, but you wisely ignored it and let yourself feel the sun. Mimikyu didn't usually come with you due to his fear of the sun, but sometimes would brave it just so you wouldn't feel so insecure and lonely.

  
You've never walked as far to the market before. You wonder if you'll upset Gladion by going. But you have some money on you, and Po Town wasn't even near where you were. You'll be fine, you bet. You grabbed your wallet and key card, shoving both in your pocket.

  
Guzma wouldn't get you. You know you'll be fine. Or so you'll tell yourself until you actually believe it. Gladion was hard to lie to, so sometimes you had to really be an actor and sell it to the crowd. But what level of skill did you need to make you believe yourself? Heck, you could hardly sleep at night, riddled with anxiety that the thousands of eyes of Team Skull were bearing into your body, ridiculing you for the way you had gone and -

  
...You should hurry.

  
Mimikyu felt your tension and gave a brief nuzzle into your chest. You rub his cheeks through his costume and then give it a gentle reassuring pat on the head. It made you feel just a bit better knowing Mimikyu seemed willing to brave the outside with you today. With a deep breath, you move toward the door and grip the handle. It was cold in your calm, but for some reason it also felt sinister. Like the second you stepped outside, Guzma would grab you by your shirt and fling you over the railing. You can imagine him following your limp body afterward, picking you up from where you landed and bringing you close to his face. His warm breath would brush over your skin, twisting the material of your clothes in his hands. He would tell you how much he hated you - how dirt was cleaner than you were, and he wouldn't dare get his hands dirty with you if it weren't for -

  
You took a deep breath, reminding yourself where you were and what you were doing. Guzma wasn't here right now. You'll be fine.

  
You twist the knob, and despite your rigid body, you open it to the empty outdoors. There's a woman with her husband walking their Rockruff, who happily skipped along beside their owners. There was a little girl scribbling with chalk, a Stufful nudging certain colors over to her. It seemed she was drawing a picture of the Pokemon itself. And in the very distance walked an old man, who was alone. He didn't seem to mind, as he happily clasped his hands behind his back and kept moving forward.

  
You feel your own shoulders drop. You were being ridiculous again. But Guzma had made it clear that night.

  
He'd find you and make you sorry.

  
You still can't comprehend Gladion's logic on protecting you. You supposed in some ways joining Team Skull benefited him, so you never questioned it. It just felt wrong.

  
"Well... err, it's hot out today, isn't it?"

  
You try to casually interact with your Mimikyu as to not draw attention from the people around you. Mimikyu made a noise that sounded like an agreement.

  
You couldn't dawdle. You didn't know the path well, but you went with the flow of the people. You took a few moments to follow the older man walking by himself, then branch off when he begins to take notice he has a shadow. You follow a girl on a bike up until you reach the top of the hill. You glance around nervously, feeling as if everyone in distant sight was staring you down, but you knew it wasn't true. You had to breathe, calm down, and relax.

  
...You... had no idea where to go. You're gonna get lost if you keep going. You look left and right and all around you, fearful of where you should go. Every path in your head looked the same to you and every person was too intimidating to approach. But it was ridiculous to stand there looking around like an idiot. You needed to start moving now before you looked weird for just standing there with a blank look on your face.

  
You choose to walk ahead. It's a more rocky area before the mountain that still stood tall and proud above. Despite the anxiety that was building up inside of you, it felt nice to breathe a breath of fresh air instead of filtered air that came in through the hotel air conditioner lodged in the space between the open window. You give Mimikyu another soft rub on his cheeks through his costume, comforted by the feeling of him against your chest. Mimikyu could be a replacement for a stuffed doll when you really needed it.

  
You had met your Mimikyu back when your family had taken a trip to Ula'ula Island. You were young at the time, so when the thunder began to crack above, you felt your chest tighten in excitement rather than fear. Your father was talking to some construction man about the reconstruction of an abandoned super market that sat at the top of a cracked hill. It all happened just before it was made into a trial sight for some little girl.

  
Even though your mother had called out to you to come back, you didn't listen. And that's when the lightning bolt struck the ground just mere inches from you, a hell of a storm breaking out above. You scrambled up the hill, desperate to find your parents, but you stumbled into the super market blindly by accident.

  
You were young then, so you didn't quite understand why mommy or dad wasn't answering you when you called out for them. In the distance you saw a shadow moving. You cried, but you were scared to go outside again. Over the rain, you swore you could have heard someone call your name. It could have been your mother, but you didn't know. You slid down against the nearest wall and laid there for what felt like forever, crying into your arms.

  
Something soft eventually brushed against your legs, begging for a little affection...

  
You shook your head, coming back to reality. You're out in the open now, and there's a super market next to you. With a loud sigh of relief, you rush inside. It didn't feel much safer, but there were less eyes on you then there were outside. Plus, being in a super market would make you look a lot less suspicious. You were just a young trainer going inside to buy food. Yeah. That's what you looked like.

  
Mimikyu began to wriggle in your arms the second you walked inside. The nice man at the entrance gave you a coupon upon your entrance, strangely enough, and insisted you use it as many times as you'd like while you were here. You give the man the best smile you can as Mimikyu was obviously trying to get to the floor. The man laughed.

  
"Got a little rascal there, don't you?"

  
You didn't want to talk to him. You just needed food. That's probably why Mimikyu was rushing to get down - he saw food, and he wanted it.

  
"Y-Yeah, haha. He's... a little bit of a handful sometimes."

  
Mimikyu obviously took slight offense to the comment, turning his head to give you what you assume was a glare. You quickly walk forward inside the store, desperate to immerse yourself in the aisles. Once you felt secure, you leaned forward and gently brushed your fingers along the top of Mimikyu's costume before you set him down. He seemed satisfied then. With a soft laugh, you nod to the food in front of you. It was a bit cheaper than everything else in the store, but it was best you rack up on food that costed you less than only getting one thing.

  
"Go on, get what you want." You said as you leaned forward, planning to do so just for yourself.

  
Seconds later, your arms were full of snacks. Mimikyu had tugged a few things off of the shelf and nudged them toward you. You scooped them up and then began to walk away, Mimikyu faithfully following closely to you. Coming to the counter, you laid all the food down in front of you. The older man there looked at the items and then at you before he began to scan them.

  
Mimikyu nudged against your leg, begging for your attention. It was a bit more rough then how he usually got your attention. You ignore it for the moment.

  
"Coupon?" The man asked with a gruff voice. Remembering the paper the man gave you at the entrance, you reach into your pocket and pull it out, handing it to him.

  
He paused for a brief second when he touched the coupon. He glanced down curiously at your wrist. It was then that you noticed your shirt's sleeve had pulled up somewhat.

  
"Trial-goer?" He asked curiously. You didn't know what to say. You've rarely used your Z-Ring in quite a while now.

  
"U...Uh, yeah. Yeah. Trial-goer."

  
Mimikyu brushed against your leg again, hissing a little more loudly then you would have liked. Something was making him fussy. It was probably hunger. You'll make sure he gets a good breakfast once you're back inside the safety of the motel.

"Oh-ho! Now all these snacks make sense. I thought you might have just been lazing around."

  
Would it have been any of his business? Judgmental old man...

  
You pay for everything, the coupon gracefully saving you a decent amount of money just in case you ever needed to make a trip like this again. So far, it wasn't so bad! The inside of this place was sleek and pretty, polished to please the eye of the customers. Looking around, you give yourself a reassuring nod. This was okay after all. Even the other people in the store didn't look too... scary...

  
If someone would have told you that you could go colder than you did when Guzma came at you the first time, you wouldn't have believed it. Mimikyu wasn't fussy.

  
He was trying to warn you.

  
Two familiar people stood at the end of one aisle, in obvious disguises. They haven't looked your way yet, but if you didn't hurry, they would. Grabbing your bags in a rush, you thank the man and tell him to have a good day. Mimikyu is all too ready to book it out of there with you. You begin to rush out of there, almost bumping into other customers along the way. The man behind the register must have took it for excitement to keep going on with your trial journey, but you were in no hurry to heed attention to anything.

  
The door is right there. Just make it out and you're probably good for the rest of the way back if you hurry -

  
And, you slam right into the same man who gave you the coupon.

  
A bag tumbled out of your hand, and many people stopped to stare at the commotion.

  
Including the ones you were trying to get away from. And instantly, they recognized you. One whispered to the other, and when the other looked, he nodded. Your panic worsened, and you're quick to snatch up the bag you drop and rush an apology to the man. He tried to ask if everything was alright, but you had no time to stop and give him an answer. You had to go, _now_. Shoving the bags up further on your arms, you decide to scoop Mimikyu up and start running again.

  
They're following you. You can see them move out of the super market as quickly as you had. Your feet are slapping the pavement, and your first thought is to not run in the direction of the motel. If you ran away from it, then it's possible they won't suspect you were staying there. You stopped and tossed your head left and right as you run out of the Royal Avenue area and then dart down the dirt path.

  
"Ya filthy little - Get back here, yo!"

  
You don't stop for a second. You remember the scenario you imagined earlier and felt a pang of fear go through you. You're moving faster than you thought you were capable of, gasping for breath by the time you reach just the outskirts of - Heahea City, according to the sign. They're making some ground on you though, so you dart toward the white bridge next to you. Hano Grand Resort. No doubt they'll follow you here too, but you notice a small grouping of people standing by the lower dock area. There's a smell of sea salt and a bustle of people walking in and out of the resort. Residents are sun bathing on reclining chairs with little drinks in their hands.

  
Looking back at the docks, you feel a little light of hope stir inside you. A ferry is loading.

  
"U-Um, excuse me, where is th-the ferry heading to?"

  
The man who was handling the group going into the ferry turned to look at you.

  
"Melemele Island. Were you looking to join?"

  
It wasn't the best way out just for two little grunts, but you were already spotted here on Akala Island. Maybe it would be good for Gladion and you to be separate for a little bit. If you stayed on Melemele for a while, then they would think you had run off somewhere else. Or think you were still on Akala. Just as long as they didn't suspect Gladion of helping you. As long as Gladion was safe. As long as you didn't ruin anything more than you already have.

  
With a nod, you give the man the best smile you could. You turn your head to check for the grunts. It seems they might have not thought you bolted for the resort. They're probably somewhere in the city looking for you. Good. You turn back toward the man.

  
"Um. How much?"

  
The man chuckled.

  
"You're a trial-goer by the looks of it, yes? Please, on my behalf, I'll excuse the price."

  
Or he's just flirting with you. You don't even have the trial charm with you anymore. Plus, isn't he questioning the bags of food you were carrying? Doing your best to play the image up, you give him a flirtatious smile and move behind him onto the ferry, boarding up along with everyone else. Good thing too, because by the time you sit down, you see two figures run onto the grounds of the Resort, heads twisting around wildly. The girl stomped her foot furiously before grabbing the other by the ear, dragging him away. She was shouting, by the looks of it. They were mad you got away.

  
They thought you were gone. A feeling of relief flushed through you.

  
Up until you realized you were actually about to distance yourself from Gladion with no explanation. You clutch Mimikyu gently to yourself, rustling the super market bags, trying to even your breathing. Mimikyu nudged at you, as if trying to reassure you that you will be okay.

  
He was going to have no idea where you were. And who knew where this ferry planned on docking at, because you only partially knew Melemele Island.

  
And the part you did know was a part you never wanted to set foot on again.

  
**. . . **

  
Rotom for a few hours after that had searched through its files and some of the public documents online to see if the person they had discovered in the pictures was somewhere in there, but to their disappointment, there was nothing. Moon found it suspicious, but Rotom had closed the tabs and said it was probably nothing to worry about. It was probably best to let it all go, but even Moon found that difficult to accept. It was… ridiculously irritating for some reason to not know the person herself. It was also incredibly dull to have her own Dex tell her that she was exaggerating her curiosity. Rotom insisted that it was best saved for the berry lesson that Kukui had in store for them today. She went to bed with a heavy mind that night. Rotom’s screen light blinked out as it fell asleep against the cushioned pillow Moon gave it to sleep on.

  
When she woke, she made quick work of feeding her Popplio and Rotom, moving on to eat breakfast herself It was about when Moon was pulling on her shoes that she actually began to drive the image out of her mind the best she could.

  
“Hey, Rotom?”

  
The Dex turned toward her with a smile.

  
“Zzt. Yeah?”

  
“...What did you possess before the Dex?”

  
Rotom seemed somewhat stunned by her question, but instead of avoiding it, it immediately answered.

  
“All sortzzz of thingzzz! Ovenzzz and fridgezzz… Ohh, one time I possessed a lawn mower. I sure did scare the owner of it!”

  
Moon laughed.

  
“Really? You didn’t destroy it, did you?”

  
“Wazzat? Me? Destroy an electrical appliance? I would never! ...But I did run the lawn mower into the fence.”

  
Moon finished tying one of her shoes and moved onto the other one, looking up at Rotom while she did so. The little Dex could be quite a conversationalist when it wanted to be. Also, it was a great tease. On top of being great at annoying her.

  
“So what makes you like the Dex so much?”

  
Rotom paused, looking down at her shoes as she finished tying them.

  
“Hmm… I guezzz ‘cause I can communicate this way. It’zzz stressful when your trainer won’t understand you.”

  
Moon imagined that a lot. Pokemon seemed to undergo that on occasion. Only ever if you built up a bond with one did they ever really have decent communication with it. Moon understood her Popplio perfectly, but it still wasn’t quite like the feedback she could get from Rotom. She wondered if one day in the future if there would be some sort of device that allowed her to get what they were all saying. It was all wishful thinking, and kind of stupid to get wrapped up in.

  
“Also, I get to know lotzzza stuff in here. I like it, zzt!”

  
Moon smiled and nodded, standing from her bed and snatching her bag from up and off the floor. Before she could walk outside her room, Rotom hovered in front of her, blocking her path. She really did like the Dex, but sometimes the way Rotom stared at her made her uncomfortable. It had plenty of expressions at the ready on its screen, but something about its stare was… eerie, to say at the least.

  
“Hey, zzt! Since you asked me a question, can I ask you a question?”

  
“Sure?”

  
Rotom blinked, and its smile returned.

  
“Are humanzzz so naturally instinctive to protect each other? You seemed really determined to find out about that person.”

  
It’s a good question, but Moon didn’t know how to answer. She shrugged, moving past it and made her way toward the kitchen. Her mother was outside soaking up the sunlight already, but Moon was in no way rushing to get out the door. Instead of ignoring Rotom, she decided to answer it.

  
“I don’t think I wanted to protect them. I just think it’s weird that they threw this person’s face and name in the back of the school. Besides, if they hated them - or whatever, I don’t know - why not just throw the pictures away completely?”

  
It was a subject Moon was hoping to move on from, hence why she asked Rotom that question, but Rotom was always tricky when it came to being curious about her actions sometimes.

  
“I don’t think they hated them, zzt. Even Mallow seemed like she missed them."

  
Which was the unusual part.

  
"She also said she didn't want to believe they were a bad person. That sounded like they might have gotten wrapped up in some trouble."

  
Or they were actually a bad person. Moon couldn't tell. It's not like she could just seek this person out, sit them down over a cup of tea and ask them to - well, spill the tea. Or beans. Or any other berry or food that they liked. Whatever it was, Moon had to know. She obviously couldn't ask Mallow or the others now that just with tension that they made it clear they didn't want to hear about them.

  
"Zzt! Hey, look. A ferry!"

  
Rotom turned and snapped a photo of the ferry that's just beginning to open up and let its passengers off. Moon's just a foot step out her door, so she has to walk a little closer to see it. Right. She's heard that there's a ferry that carries people from a neighboring island over to Melemele. She doesn't really need to stop and look, but she waited for Rotom to feel like it was done snapping photos. If it couldn't control itself, Kukui might have to expand its storage just so it could take more pictures.

  
With a sigh, Moon felt a soft smile come onto her face. It's still kind of cute. She supposed she only read about Rotom once when her teacher back in Kanto reached the unit about Sinnoh, but it's still pretty cute. Back then, she remembered games where kids pretended Rotom was possessing different objects, and you had to guess which object Rotom possessed or else you would be out. Moon participated a few times, but eventually grew bored of it. Hanging out with a real Rotom - who was also her Poke Dex - was much better.

  
"...Zzt. Moon. Look."

  
Moon turned her head back toward the ferry.

  
"What?"

  
"Zzt! You don't see it?"

  
Moon tilted her head curiously. She saw a swarm of tourists and rich people coming off of the boat, but nothing else too special.

  
"No?"

  
"Zzzzzt!"

  
Rotom snapped another picture, then turned. Pulling the photo up on its screen, it zoomed in on one person in the crowd.

  
Despite the weather today and a bead of sweat forming on her brow, she went cold.

  
...Okay, so maybe she was wrong before. Maybe she really can ask this person over a cup of tea, beans, or berries about what happened.

  
"Is - Is that them?"

  
"It sure does look like it, zzt! What do we do?!"

  
The side of her with morals said it would be best to turn her back and keep going to school before she would be considered late and would have to sit in the principal's office for a while as that got sorted out. The other side of her said ditch school completely and go follow them. They came more into view now as the people disbanded and moved around, deciding to follow up on better-known parts of Melemele.

  
...It wouldn't be the first time Moon got in trouble at school.

  
"Do... Do you wanna follow them, or...?"

  
Rotom wasn't responding. Moon glanced up at it, raising an eyebrow. It was weird, seeing as that it was more than happy to have instantly start jumping at them seconds ago. A small heart was beating on Rotom's screen, and its eyes seemed to light up.

  
"Zzt! Oh my! Do you think they're looking our way now? We should totally follow them!"

  
...Seriously. Was Rotom going to take this serious?

  
"...Do... you seriously have a crush on them?"

  
"I think I like them already. Moon, let'zzz go!"

  
Moon was going to snatch the Dex out of the air and give it a good shake or two, but the second she tried to do that, her hands smacked into the face of someone else. They yelped loudly, covering their face with their hands. When Moon looked down, her eyes widened slightly out of surprise. By the short time Rotom had made its love confession to Moon, the person had made its way up the path, glancing nervously at Kukui's lab as they went.

  
"Oh - um, sorry!" Moon shouted.

  
They looked up, and once they looked her over, the tension in their body seemed to lessen. Only lessen. The Mimikyu in their arms couldn't give an expression, but for some reason, Moon could sense its distaste for her. Moon tried not to feel unsettled by its rag doll-like body. They were also clutching bags of what looked to be cheap snacks from the super market.

  
"It's... fine. Um. Sorry. W...Where's the nearest... Um... Where can I make a phone call?"

  
Perfect!

  
"You can use the phone inside my house... if you want, zzt!"

  
Rotom had cut in and offered before you could do it yourself. They seemed stunned by the offer, as if a stranger wasn't capable of being so nice - or, well, a strange floating Poke Dex, most of all. Moon supposed this was for selfish motives, so she could figure out what exactly this person did. But instead of throwing question after question at them at once, she stepped aside and allowed the person an offer for entry. They looked majorly like they were hesitating, but as if weighing their options, they stepped in. Rotom followed them without waiting to see if she would come in or not. 

  
"Moon? Aren't you leaving for school? Who's this?"

  
Oh. Her mom was still home. Dang it...

  
"H-Hey mom!" She shouted. "Um, this is my friend. They're gonna make a quick phone call to their mom to see if - she can bring them something they forgot. Also, they might need a place to stay tonight. Can they stay here?"

  
You're rushing into this too fast, and you can tell by the way their expression changes. Her mom gave her a suspicious look. Even Moon could tell her own story was faulty, but eventually her mom shrugged and gave a confirmation that it was fine with her so long as they didn't start causing trouble. Once her mom was out of the room, the person turned toward them and gave them an accusing look. Rotom was too busy ogling at them to actually notice anything else at the moment. The Mimikyu in their arms was becoming more displeased by the second, wriggling around as if to be allowed down to move around. 

  
"Stay here?! I have... no where... else..."

  
"Well, that's good, right?"

  
Moon tried to hide her excitement. She could definitely figure out a secret or two soon.

  
**. . . **

  
Who was this crazy girl? Why did she act like she had some sort of right to tell you what to do? That kind of behavior reminded you too much of Guzma, but at least she couldn't tower over you. With a deep breath, you move toward the phone and touch it softly. You pluck the key card from your pocket -

  
...The key card is gone.

  
It might have fallen out of your pocket by the time you fell in the store. Which means the grunts could have collected it. You were too busy grabbing up Mimikyu in your arms to have taken notice your lost it. It was fine, just as long as Mimikyu was safe, but...

  
Losing it also means they might make the connection between you and Gladion.

  
"Something wrong?" The girl asked. The odd little - err, whatever the red thing was, seemed to be curious too.

  
"...I... don't have the number anymore. I guess I'm stuck here with you."

  
That feeling sat heavy with you in your chest. The key card was gone, so you had no way to contact Gladion now. There was no way to tell him what had happened. The girl shrugged. Just how crazy was she? And why did this stupid little red thing keep swirling around your head? Did she know she was keeping a fugitive inside of her home? It wasn't as bad with Gladion because Gladion was equally as wanted by the Aether Foundation, but she really did jump into all of this like it was nothing. You supposed kids could be stupid nowadays. You sighed, setting your bags of forgotten snacks down. It was pointless to be carrying them with you anymore.

  
"...Who are you?" You ask cautiously. She's already given you a place to stay and she's yet to tell you her name. Or tell you why the unsettling stare of that red thing put fake hearts all over its screen while winking at you. It's... creepy. Makes you feel like you're being watched, and if there's one thing you can't stand anymore, it's that. 

  
Her grin was almost... too excited.

  
"I'm Moon! I just moved here to Alola. And, I kinda... already know about you. Oh, and that's Rotom Dex. It's, uh... nice to meet you."

  
Rotom jumped in front of her at that. The hearts on its screen grew bigger.

  
"It's a pleasure!"

  
The words took you back. Goodness, she really did just rush in and say everything before you can even comprehend what she said _beforehand_.

  
"Um... how? How do you know me, I mean."

  
Moon shifted from one foot to the other shyly.

  
"Um. Well. I saw your picture at school."

  
Your heart nearly stopped in your chest. This day just kept getting worse. Of course she would go to the Pokemon School - _of course she would_. She would know all of your old friends too. If they saw you, what would they say? Would they insult you? Would they be disgusted at the sight of you? No one wanted a bad person around anymore. The panic tightened in your chest.

  
"A...Ah. I see. Okay."

  
And her mom came back out of the other room, having dressed and done her hair. A Meowth from Kanto was following behind her.

  
"Well then, did her mom answer?"

  
Moon shook her head. You spoke up before Moon could.

  
"My parents are rather wealthy big business people. I don't think they're going to answer for quite a while. It may take weeks. I could understand if you don't want someone else here, but..."

  
The mom waved her off, much to your surprise.

  
"Don't worry about it, dear. I don't mind, just as long as you don't go tracking mud in. Heh."

  
It was meant to be joking, but the last part sounded almost insulting. Was she not questioning the lack of a school bag? Or maybe she assumed that's what you 'forgot'? God, this entire situation was an absolute disaster. Nothing about the lies being told right now made any sense yet the mother fell for it without any question. You shiver and smile. Her mom reached over and grabbed a brown paper bag and thrust it toward Moon.

  
"Almost forgot your lunch, Moon. Oh, did your friend need a lunch too?"

  
You tensed up.

  
...You were definitely about to go visit those old friends of yours.

  
**. . .**

  
Gladion arrived home to a dark motel that night, and a lack of a person and their Mimikyu - both of which who he came to care for immensely. The panic settled in faster than he could comprehend and he instantly moved around the area, examining everything he could to see if there was any proof of their disappearance or a note explaining where they went.

  
Much to Gladion's disappointment, the room was empty.

  
And they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DONE
> 
> i liked this chapter a lot ngl.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go to Kukui's place while Moon goes to school. You feel so stressed out though. Luckily Kukui knows how to handle panic attacks pretty well.

You couldn’t go to the school with that girl - with _Moon_ . You hardly knew her for one - more like she just threw open her front door for you after her little Rotom thing offered - and you would never be able to face your old friends ever again. The thought of it sent an unsettling feeling through your bones, and it seared _guilty_ into your soul. Each of their faces passed through your mind, and you felt cold.

 

Even now, that memory buried deep inside your mind the second her mom suggested you were going. The pouring rain, the clothes you were wearing, how Mimikyu stuck close to your side faithfully and hissed at them as they tried to stop you. They kept saying it - _don’t give up please don’t give up now, we can help you, give us a chance to help you_ \- but you had given them deaf ears and turned your back to them. They would have never understood anyway. You pulled a bandana up and over your mouth. They must have surely felt betrayed, even more so when you tugged on the skull decorated uniform in front of them…

 

Maybe you _could_ apologize. Not a lot of people would after all of this. It wouldn’t hurt to try. But the way they all looked at you like you were a criminal, the last thing you saw of them before you left, was immensely painful. You wouldn’t be able to do it. An apology would never be enough to make up for what you did.

 

What were you thinking that day? Did you seriously think it was going to work out perfectly? Like becoming a bad guy would suddenly gain you all the respect you could have ever wanted? No, it wouldn’t, and it didn’t. It made you look stupid in the end. Then again, that’s not really what you had been doing. Trying to become a bad guy, you mean.

 

There was a knock on their front door. Her mom clapped her hands together.

 

“Ah, Kukui was probably wondering where you were, Moon! Good. He can walk you two to school together.”

 

Kukui?

 

... _Kukui_.

 

_Kukui!_

 

That’s possibly even _worse_ than seeing your old friends. You feel your chest tighten in panic, and you flash Moon a desperate look. Whoever Moon was - you didn’t plan on sticking around long enough to find out - she seemed to really get your situation so far. But even she gave you a helpless look, but was obviously racking her brain to see if she could think of something before this went south quickly. Kukui would recognize you, and he _wouldn’t_ recognize you as one of his students. Moon finally shrugged her shoulders and then kept her head low. She was trying to come up with a solution, and this stupid Rotom _wouldn’t stop staring at you already._ Could it knock it off? Maybe Mimikyu could give it a good whack across the screen to make it straighten out its act. You weren’t sure what its problem was.

 

“U...Uh…”

 

The both of you took too long to think. Kukui always did have a habit of letting himself in after a while of waiting.

 

You felt yourself shrink the moment the door swung open.

 

“Moon! Ya aren’t walking to school yet, ki...ddo…?”

 

Today was _not_ your day.

 

This was getting worse by the second. You look away awkwardly and refuse to meet his eyes. You would feel ashamed of yourself. He wasn’t there that day you betrayed your friends, but he sure must have heard all about it. With a deep breath, you notice Moon mouthing something silently to Kukui. She was still trying to be your saving grace despite her lack of help before. Moon had to be strangely obsessed with you or… _something_ . She sure seemed all too ready to help you. She’s kind of… _creepy_ , to say at the least. She admitted to knowing who you were already..

 

“O...Oh! Yeah! I just remembered, I got a call from the lab earlier! I’ll walk you to school today, but, uh, I won’t be able to stay long. Principal Oak will take over lessons today since I’m prepared this time. Can’t have you missing out on any good stuff.”

 

Today is a _mess_.

 

How are any of these lies making _sense_ to her mother? None of them were reasonable, they were all transparent, and said in such a manner that should have given away something was wrong, but they didn’t. It all went over her head as if everything was normal. Nodding, she gave both you and Moon a pat on your backs, nudging you toward Kukui. With a sigh, you adjust Mimikyu in your arms, rubbing his cheeks again. It wasn’t as comforting as it was before back before you went and got yourself here. Before you messed up everything else. You wonder what would have happened if you just stayed inside the motel and didn’t go anywhere. Gladion surely would have found a way to be sure all of you ate that night.

 

You _ruined_ everything. Gladion might be worried out of his mind already. There was never any telling when he would get home these days. Sometimes it would be late at night, and other nights it would be mid afternoon. Or he would never leave at all. You never knew. If only you didn’t think you could handle everything, like you always thought you could. Your parents must be so proud of you right now.

 

You reluctantly stepped back outside, that Rotom _still_ hovering too close to you for your liking.  The heart on its screen disappeared, but its adoring gaze still didn’t move away from you. It’s full attention was on you, and you only. Mimikyu made a low growl, as if finally beginning to be irritated with the attention. Rotom didn’t take the hint though. It would be its own fault if it got a claw across the screen.

 

Your stomach rumbled again, making you remember you’ve yet to actually eat something. Mimikyu must be equally as hungry.

 

And you left the bags of food inside the place. Great.

 

The second you were outside and the door to the house was shut, Kukui put a hand on your back. You knew this was coming. Maybe he would take you to the police to turn you in, so you could be handled for questioning and association with the bad guys -

 

“Kiddo… Go wait at my place. Let’s talk for a while, yeah?”

 

Wait at his place? Something about it sounded so menacing. But you were by yourself now, so you had no choice but to follow what he asked you to do. Shouldn’t he bring you with him? He should know you’ll think about running off somewhere.

 

You shiver, and then nod. He gave you what felt like a gentle reassuring squeeze on your shoulder, but everything was too overbearing right now. Pressure was building up in your skull as if you’d done something wrong already and a heavy weight settled behind your heart. It was tightening, closing in on you. Suddenly, the world felt a lot smaller. With a deep breath, you move back downward toward the beach, where you would wait for his return.

 

He watched you the entire way, perhaps curious to see if you actually _would_ run off. It would have been easier to keep an eye on you if he walked with you to the school, but there was something hidden behind his words. There was something a lot more...lighthearted.

 

Kukui _still_ trusted you and believed that you would stay there until he got back. It was touching.

 

If only you had it in you to apologize.

 

**. . .**

The walk to school was quiet and uncomfortable. Moon fiddled with the sleeve of her shirt and Kukui walked straight ahead, Rockruff trotting happily next to it. Kukui didn’t seem angry, but he definitely was curious. He seemed so disappointed he couldn’t teach that berry lesson yesterday, and he’s abandoning it for the sake of the other person. She felt uncomfortable all of the sudden, questioning the logic of herself. Was she making the right decision keeping that person there? She didn’t know. Moon felt as if there was something inherently wrong with this entire thing. She hasn’t figured the entire truth out yet, so there could be something a lot more dark and sinister lurking underneath everything. But if that person were dangerous, wouldn’t Kukui have taken them straight to the police?

 

“Kiddo,” Kukui finally said. “I’d like to ask ya to do something.”

 

Moon glanced up at him as he stopped. She did as well. Kukui looked strangely serious for a rather upbeat guy.

 

“Don’t mention this to anyone else yet, yeah? They just need a little time before they come to school again.”

 

Kukui was planning on bringing them back to school?

 

“I kind of figured. Um…”

 

Now would be a good time to mention what happened yesterday. Or at least she thought it would be. It might upset Mallow, but there’s a lot more going on right now that would upset her other than mentioning the photos.

 

“I saw their school photos in the back yesterday when Mallow and I went to get the food for lunch. She was weird about it and didn’t really answer anything.”

 

“And they were conveniently there at your front door this morning?”

 

“Actually… yes, they were.”

 

Kukui went still, an odd look on his face as an eyebrow shot up. It wasn’t an intentionally disrespectful answer, but it shocked him. Moon was quick to make up for it.

 

“Uh, well, kind of. They were coming off of a ferry, I mean. They looked like they were in a hurry.”

 

She turned to Rotom, who’d been following silently this entire time. Nodding to it, it opened up the photo it took of the person coming off of the ferry. Kukui looked it over in detail before scratching his chin and nodding. Rotom closed the photo, though not before a heart appeared on the screen for a brief moment. Moon really didn’t get that ridiculous Dex. It’s seen photos of them, so why start crushing on them in person? No wait, why is a Pokemon crushing on a person in the first place? That thing was so weird. Rotom’s always been weird since you met it.

 

But Kukui didn’t look like he doubted Moon’s story. He nodded, and then walked forward, patting  her back gently to encourage her to start walking again. Moon jogged for a second to keep up with him. She kind of wished she could mention it to the others because it was definitely going to look suspicious that Kukui was skipping a lesson. Any lab calls he ever got he put off until after school ended so his lessons wouldn’t be interrupted. It would be up to Moon to keep this act up for the rest of the day.

 

Hopefully she would be much better at lying than she was back at home with her mom just now. Seriously, she didn’t even question anything being said. Wouldn’t her mom have known something was up? All the lies were rushed and stuttered.

 

“... Professor Kukui?”

 

He looked toward you.

 

“Did they do something bad? Um… Mallow mentioned something like it, but I didn’t want to ask.”

 

Kukui sighed. He shook his head.

 

“They’re a good kid. Just believe that.”

 

Kukui knew them better than she did, so she nodded. There was intricate plot layering itself up here. A lot of muddled confusion, a lot of clutter, but Moon would bet in time she would figure out a lot more.

 

When they came to the front of the school, Kukui told her to go to class while he went and talked to Principal Oak.

 

“Zzt. You gonna be okay?” Rotom asked, as if finally snapping out of its love-induced haze.

 

“Yeah. Just don’t mentioning anything about it to anyone, alright?”

 

Rotom gave a look of understanding.

 

Upon entering the classroom, it was the same thing she saw always: Sophocles was typing furiously at an unnatural pace on his laptop, furrowing his brow as he tried to type code in as quickly as he felt he needed to, Mallow was talking to Lana and Lillie about something, and Kiawe was staring outside, content with being to himself in early mornings. They glanced at her when she walked in, and she offered a wave. Mallow smiled back, as if nothing ever happened yesterday. For some reason, seeing the normal sight of the normal daily class might make this just a little easier.

 

“Hello, Moon.” Lillie greeted with a small bow of her head. Her tiny hands were clasped in front of her. Lillie was always such a petite little lady.

 

“Hey,” She greeted nonchalantly, throwing her bag next to her usual seat on the floor. Sophocles eye twitched at the sound of her bag hitting the floor, as if it disturbed him from his programming. But he picked back up on his typing seconds later. Togedemaru was sitting on his lap, sleeping silently. She must have been tired this morning. Togedemaru was so cute though, she had to admit. Moon reached into her bag and pulled out a Poke Ball, releasing a familiar Popplio outside. He greeted her with a nuzzle before running off to join Lana’s Popplio for a little morning interaction.

 

Yeah. She could do this!

 

“Good morning, students!”

 

The door to the classroom opened again, and Principal Oak walked inside. Kukui wasn’t behind him. He must have already left.

 

“Professor Kukui has a little work to do at the lab this morning. I’ll be teaching today! I hope you’re ready to learn about berries!”

 

...Or. Maybe it would be painful. Moon didn’t know yet.

 

**. . .**

You had thought many times about standing up and running. You really did. Even stood up a few times and walked further away from the house before you turned on your heel and walked back. You knew that Kukui likely wasn’t going to do anything too crazy, but for some reason you felt scared. Mimikyu watched you with interest, unsure of what to do and how to help you relax. He offered the best he could, which was making soft, cute noises at you as if to try and draw your attention toward him and say - hey, cuddle me, and you’ll feel better. You wish you weren’t so anxious, because you might have done just that.

 

But this was Kukui. Kukui was more than just your teacher or professor - he was your _friend_. Your parents loved him, and he loved to spend time with his students after school. He was possibly the best teacher you ever had in the past. Every memory you had of Kukui was fond, and he was the one person who you didn’t end your connection with by making them look horrified at you. Just thinking about seeing a disappointed look on Kukui’s face would be enough to make you cry.

 

You remember a time Kukui would ruffle your hair affectionately and praise you for good work on tests. He would ask you how your day was going, and if it wasn’t good, he’d sit you down and ask if you’d like to talk about it. He was so nice. Kukui was too nice for you. He didn’t need to put up with you now. Maybe you should leave. Maybe -

 

“Heya!”

 

The familiar voice called out to you. You look around, surprised to see Kukui back already. He’s walking down the beach, toward you, and Mimikyu is up in an instant. He growled lowly, but you scold him softly. He doesn’t relax, but stopped the threatening noises. It still didn’t change the fact that your body tensed, and you felt guilty again.

 

You don’t look up at him by the time he reached you.

 

“Whoo! It’s kinda hot today, yeah? Let’s head inside.”

 

He waited for your answer, just in case you had any interjections or refusal. You had no right to give any. You nod, and stand slowly, picking Mimikyu up again. He squirmed slightly, likely not pleased he’s been held for the majority of the day while you were either panicking or running. At least today started okay and you faced your fears, but it turned out your fears were more reasonable than you thought they were. And true, it could have resulted a lot worse if those grunts caught you, but they didn’t. This situation still isn’t the greatest. You can’t predict what could happen if you meet your old friends, or what Kukui might end up doing with you.

 

He held open the door for you and shut it. You look around at all the familiar furniture of the house, comforted by the scent and appearance. You’d come here many times after school with your friends for extra study sessions, given by Kukui himself.

 

Maybe if you pretended hard enough - or acted like it - you could be back in time, where you can think about the multitude of things you could have done over what you chose. Then everything could be fixed. Then everything would be back to normal. Then you could -

 

“You hungry?” Kukui asked, breaking you out of your daze.

 

You don’t think before you nod. You let yourself be carried away into that blissful day dream. You do that a lot, where you start thinking about something and then get stuck in those thoughts. It was a better reality. If only you could make it real.

 

Kukui let you sit down on the couch, and you anxiously tap your feet. It doesn’t feel as comfortable as you remember.

 

This building up feeling in your chest isn’t going away - no, it’s getting _worse_. Mimikyu seemed to recognize this. He moved to get off the couch, as if to go find Kukui, but you pull him closer to you. He fought against you for a moment, then thought better of it and stayed where he was. Mimikyu was a good Pokemon. You remember the days where you both battled in the name of the spirit of battle. Where you could sync up and use the Ghostium Z-Crystal and amaze your opponents. Mimikyu was a good match for you. You just wished you could be a little stronger for him.

 

You look out the window, trying to calm down your thoughts because - they’re racing. At a pace you can hardly keep up with. You think about your friends again, what happened with Guzma, and now what could happen if you weren’t careful.

 

Everything is going through your head at once, bouncing back and forth between subjects - _Kukui hates me, Kukui will forgive me, my friends will never look at me the same again, my friends will hate me forever, Mimikyu is holding out for my sake, Kukui hates me, Mimikyu loves me, Kukui would never forgive me, Mimikyu will never forgive me, Kukui hates me - !_

 

Kukui is back faster then you thought he would be. His footsteps are light, but you didn’t hear him. You’re too focused on trying to quiet down your thoughts but it’s impossible. You hardly notice Kukui walking back toward you. There’s a plate in his hand, but the second he saw tears go down your face, he grimaced slightly. It must be out of disapproval.

 

He set the plate down on the table in front of you, and then moved beside you. His voice was very, very quiet. He didn’t want to startle you, or possibly make it worse. It was the one thing you shouldn’t do to someone who’s like this - yelling at them would make everything shatter in their world.

 

“Hey - Hey, c’mon. We haven’t even started talking yet, kiddo.”

 

“I...I’m s-sorry.”

 

Kukui was expecting this though. He had to have been expecting you were going to be an emotional mess. You’ve _been_ an emotional mess this entire time. If there’s anyone you’d prefer to see you having a panic attack right now, it would be Gladion. Gladion knew how to deal with you. He’d sit by you, not too closely, and when you were alright, he’d close the distance between the both of you and ask if there was anything he could do. It was scary, at the least, to know the one person who really did understand you wasn’t here at the moment you were scared and vulnerable.

 

“It’s alright. Calm down.”

 

It’s too overwhelming though. He’s trying to talk to you, but it’s overwhelming. His voice is _overwhelming_. You want to go back to Akala. You want to be inside the motel. You want the cheap bed and blankets to be hiding your face, but you can’t because you dropped the key card and you managed to land on an entirely different island.

 

You grab your head in your hands and try your best not to twist your hair. With just one glance, he just _knew_. He looked as if he wanted to give you space, but it wasn’t the best option. If he left you alone, it might worsen. It wasn’t good to leave someone alone while they’re panicking. You’re shaking so badly you can hardly bring yourself to move away either.

 

“Take deep breaths, kiddo. Focus on breathing.”

 

Your throat felt tight, but you try. He counts for you, slowly, telling you to hold the breath in for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 seconds, and then to let it go slowly. He’s not Gladion, but he knew how to handle this well. You follow his instructions, focusing on the numbers, taking in another deep breath and hold it as he counted.

 

It doesn’t help much for anything than open up your throat a little and help you breathe a little better, but the emotions are still there, still pent-up and begging to be let out. You want to scream. It’s so much, too much, and you can hardly handle it.

 

Once he sees your breathing is a little more even, he tried to talk.

 

“I’m not mad,” Kukui goes on to say. His voice is so soft. “It’s gonna be okay, kiddo.”

 

You finally have it in you to respond.

 

“It won’t.”

 

“You’re gonna be fine.”

 

“I _won’t_.”

 

It’s hardly been a few hours since you got to Melemele and you feel like you’re entire world is falling apart. Just as your breathing had evened and calmed down, it began to pick up again.

 

Even _you_ know it’s just in your head, but when you have so much frustration, guilt, anger, sadness - all of it just built up, waiting to be let out, you feel like it is. The house isn’t comforting anymore. You’d rather throw up then eat -

 

Kukui drew you closer to him, bringing you in a strong embrace. You feel yourself freeze up because - no, no, this too, it’s _too much_ \- but you don’t draw away. Instead, something heavy falls into your stomach, sitting there like a rock, refusing you the opportunity to move. You take a deep breath, biting your lip to try and will away more tears, but it’s impossible.

 

Kukui _cared about you._ That’s what’s preventing you from moving away.

 

You bury your face into Kukui’s shoulder and cry the hardest you’ve possibly cried since you got yourself put on Guzma’s bad list. He doesn’t even try to stop you this time, instead just drawing you closer and letting you.

 

Mimikyu wriggled out between the both of you and hopped off of the couch. You don’t turn to see where he’s going or what he’s doing because you can’t move right now. Kukui’s seen you weak a few times in the past at this point, but he’s hardly seen you like this. He’s just a good person. You wish you didn’t betray him and the rest. You hate to admit it to yourself because all you want to do is hide from them, but you love all of them. Your old friends, Kukui, Principal Oak -

 

They were all your family. And you drove them away.

 

“It’s been hard, yeah?” Kukui asked, though cautious of his tone. You nod into his lab coat.

 

“I want everything to be back the way it was. I’m so _sorry_.”

 

“We can make it that way.”

 

You almost laugh, but you don’t. He’s been too kind.

 

“It doesn’t change what I did.”

 

Kukui gave you a moment to take a deep breath, to calm down, before he pulled back and gripped your shoulders.

 

“But you’re here now, aren’t ya? Something had to have happened. You certainly aren’t in any bad guy getup.”

 

You go to say _still, it doesn’t change anything_ \- but Kukui stops you. He must notice the tired look in your eyes, the way you look frazzled and stressed out. He sighed, and then turned his head over to the table. Oh right. The food. He must want you to eat first before you both actually talk it out, but seconds later he’s laughing.

 

“Oh! Mimikyu got hungry.”

 

You glance over at the plate, and see that Mimikyu - a little too skillfully - had knocked the plate toward the edge of the table enough to where he could snatch the food off. He was probably really hungry. You don’t blame him. You’re not mad at him. You just feel… _drained_ , right now. You feel like you don’t have anything else left in you.

 

Kukui reached over and touched your shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

 

“You feelin’ a little better now after that cry?”

 

Yes and no. You still have a lot more to say. But after that cry, you’re too tired mentally to force yourself to keep feeling that frustrated.

 

You nod. Kukui smiled.

 

“Okay, good. I’ll really go get you something to eat this time, yeah?”

 

It’s lighthearted. It made you feel just a tad bit better. You don’t say anything, but he can sense the change in your mood. Mimikyu hopped back up onto the couch and back onto your lap, finally satisfied with having eaten something today. You say a soft sorry to him, apologetic that you were to frazzled to have thought to stop and eat. You promise him you’ll never forget again, and if he ever felt like you were ignoring him over something important, he could give you a good smack across the face with a Shadow Claw.

 

You relax against the couch, your body feeling weak.

 

You wonder how Moon is doing at school…

 

**. . .**

“What’s he doing at the lab?!”

 

Kiawe slammed his hands on Moon’s desk, Sophocles behind her, at the ready to stop her if she bolted. Mallow guarded the door in case Moon was a little too slick for the both of them. Lana and Lillie stood to the side, too nervous to interfere. Rotom hovered above her, unsure of what to do, its mouth on its screen wide and shocked. It was turning all which ways, unsure of where to look. It looked almost as guilty as Moon was.

 

Moon glanced back and forth between the door and Kiawe, shrugging nervously.

 

Okay, she _tried_ to lie to them. It didn’t exactly work out in her favor.

 

_“Wonder what Kukui is doing in the lab that was so important…” Lillie wondered._

 

_“Do you know, Moon?” Lana asked. “Since you walk to school with him everyday.”_

 

_Moon panicked. “Uh. He found something new about a move, and he had to research it right away!”_

 

_“What move?” Kiawe questioned, leaning a bit closer to her._

 

_“B...Brick Break.” She stuttered._

 

_“What about Brick Break?” Sophocles pressed. They were catching onto her._

 

_She sputtered for an answer._

 

_“It’s… It’s a move… that can’t really break bricks.”_

 

Cue them assembling a sort of mock trial. Kiawe was all too suspicious. Mallow looked more or less concerned that you might have brought something up that you shouldn’t have and well - that was kind of true. Moon bit her tongue and looked down at the floor. Principal Oak had said they were free to play right now for a little break. They could eat their lunch or go outside or help clean the dishes they put out for wild Pokemon - whatever they wanted! They chose to interrogate her this period. Oak had watched them for a moment, muttering something like, “Oh, kids these days, with their games…” before walking out.

 

“I… I can’t say.” Moon mumbled. Rotom floated closer to her and gave a nod.

 

“It’zzz true! Believe her!”

 

Kiawe huffed. She was surprised he could understand her just now.

 

“Why not?”

 

“Kukui asked me not to.”

 

Rotom interjected again.

 

“That’s also true, zzt!”

 

It was as truthful as she could be anyway. Lillie shifted from one foot to the other, looking even more uncomfortable than Lana was.

 

“Why didn’t you just say so?” Lillie asked, though intentionally not trying to come off as harsh.

 

“Cause… I dunno.” Moon groaned. “I’m sure Kukui will let me talk about it soon.”

 

“Talk about what? We can keep a secret.” Sophocles asked. He was always so nosy, so curious. Couldn’t the kid mind his own business for once? Rotom moved away, uncomfortable by the sight of him. Sophocles was also always looking to pick Rotom’s insides apart, to try and figure out how Rotom’s Dex was built. Rotom practically feared the sight of Sophocles now.

 

“I don’t doubt you can - but, Kukui really, really wouldn’t want me to.”

 

They all eyed her. She felt so judged. Jeez, couldn’t they just drop this? If not for her sake, then for the sake of the Professor they respected so much?

 

Finally, Kiawe backed up and away from her, along with Sophocles. Moon sighed out of relief as they all moved to sit in their seats again, but before they all cast her a little suspicious glance. It was like Moon was some sort of criminal - which, she’s entirely sure the real one is sitting with Kukui now. Man, she just wished she could find out what was going on there.

 

But Moon felt bad, because this was the first genuine time that they’d ever been angry with her and just because she got a little too nosy didn’t mean she wanted to damage friendships in the process. She turned around in her seat toward them with a grim look on her face. Rotom hovered closer, a frown on its face.

 

“Hey… Don’t be mad at me. Please?”

 

It was like being instantly shunned. Sophocles flipped open his laptop. Back to the usual, it seemed. Lana whispered something to Lillie, who giggled softly before turning to Mallow and repeating what she had said. Kiawe gave her a hard stare.

 

Moon felt like she had been hit hard in the chest.

 

Today was maybe not as great as it seemed like it was going to be.

 

Moon turned back around and slumped in her seat. Rotom moved in front of her face.

 

“Hey, zzt. I’m sure they’ll understand soon.”

 

Moon sighed.

 

“I hope so. I feel bad.”

 

She could have literally gone with any other excuse out there - the instant “I don’t know” excuse probably would have covered up better than this. Even a story about how a Serviper broke into his lab and he had to skip school to wrestle it back outside would have been more believable then what she said. It was terrible. When was Moon ever so bad at lying?

 

“Moon,” Kiawe called out. She tensed up, and then turned around.

 

Kiawe looked almost apologetic. Almost.

 

“Don’t feel bad. You were just doing what Kukui asked you to do. Just be honest with us next time.”

 

The rest of them nodded. The previous worry faded a little, and Moon nodded. Okay, so it wasn’t as bad as it seemed then. They could have wholesomely been angry at her, but at least they were nice about it.

 

The people in Alola really were nice.

 

Even more so…

 

It was also really hot here.

 

**. . .**

You’d eaten a good amount of food to cover for the breakfast and lunch you’d missed. You still felt emotionally drained, but after you got done eating, Kukui let you spill everything to him. You gushed about leaving, about Team Skull, about Guzma, and then about how you ended up here. He listened, and never interrupted you once the entire time. You felt genuinely respected that way.

 

“You said you’re staying with Moon?”

 

You nodded.

 

“How’s this: I’ll go talk to her mom, and then you can stay here. That way ya won’t be in a complete stranger's house, and when ya feel better, you can go see the school again. Ya gotta catch up on your studies, yeah? I’m sure Lana will let you borrow her homework.”

 

You laugh awkward. You’d… done that plenty of times before. It seemed in the end it didn’t fool Kukui the entire time. It might have helped if you didn’t copy the answers exactly, word for word, number for number.

 

“Y-Yeah. Sounds… I’m okay with that.”

 

“Alright then! The loft is yours. I made it into a space for a guest. That okay?”

 

You nod again. You really don’t deserve to be coddled like this, but you’ll take it for what it’s worth. Kukui just wants you to feel better. In a way, after your cry and talk with him, it’s sort of working. He’d always been determined to take care of his students.

 

While he stepped out to go speak to Moon’s mother, you climbed up the rickety ladder and found a somewhat dusty space. It looked like it hadn’t been touched in awhile. Kukui might not get a lot of guests that stayed, it seemed. You set Mimikyu down on the floor again (he is really not happy about being carried around so much today - if you can avoid it, you’ll try not to do it anymore for a while).

 

You walk over to the pull sofa bed and sit down cautiously.

  
...You could really go for a nap right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE MOST MOTIVATED IVE EVER BEEN TO WRITE EVER
> 
> drop a kudos if you liked please ^^ i hate asking that but its a little difficult to tell how im doing with a lack of feedback.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gladion is worried. You eat dinner with Kukui, think about the past, and then try to perform a Z Move.
> 
> Also, an energetic little boy who's the grandson of a certain Kahuna finds a key card on the ground while he and his Tutu are visiting Akala Island...

“Where’ve ya been?”

 

Gladion shoved his hands into his pockets and kept walking. It was dark around this area, and rain was coming down heavily above. His clothes were drenched, along with his hair, which was matting down to his face. He knew that voice even if it was in a crowd of cacophonous shouts. Ear piercing, loud, demanding - he hated it. Kind of. Or maybe he was just really irritated, which wasn’t completely out of the question. She really wasn’t that bad. Gladion had to stop jumping to being irritated all the time, but today was a little different. At least he had a reason to be irritated.

 

Having went home briefly to see the person he’d been staying with gone was overly horrifying, scary, and worrisome. He wanted to look for them, but Gladion had no choice but to go back to Po Town. He could only hope by the time he got back tonight, they would be back. It’s likely they just stepped out for a little bit.

 

Seeing an empty motel room was too lonely. He didn’t know if he could bear the silence. 

 

“I needed something at my place.”

 

He kept walking. She kept following.

 

“What’d you forget?”

 

_ Persistent… _

 

“Nothing that’s important to you.” Gladion called back. She caught up with him, a smile plastered onto her face. Plumeria wasn’t  _ annoying  _ \- in fact, he rather enjoyed her company sometimes, but right now, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He couldn’t bring it up to anyone here either, only because you were the rogue grunt they were determined to drag back here. No doubt they would also kick Gladion to the curb once they figured out what he’d been doing with you. Hiding you away in the motel, he meant.

 

“I could have two grunts come over here and hold you down while I frisk you,” Plumeria said, cutting in front of his path. 

 

Gladion’s eyebrow twitched. Plumeria laughed.

 

“Hey, don’t look so irritated, dummy. I’m just kiddin’.”

 

“Don’t care. I’m not in the mood.”

 

He shrugged her out of his way and half ran to get away from her.

 

“...Are you ever in a good mood?” Plumeria mumbled, crossing her arms as she watched Gladion disappear into the distance.

 

_ That idiot better be home when I get there tonight. If not… I need to find them. _

 

**.** **.** **.**

Moon walked into her house with a loud huffing, throwing her bag by the front door, not even bothering to carry it with her to her room. Throwing her bedroom door open, Moon kicked off her shoes, walking over to her bed and partially tossed herself onto the bed. Rotom followed, curiously, hovering just above her head board. Moon wanted to scream. Today had been way more stressful than necessary. The rest of them might have forgiven her for lying, but having to keep the secret now that they knew there was one in the first place was agonizingly filling her with guilt. 

 

“Moon! You home?”

 

Her mom’s voice called out to her from the front room. After a second passed, she called out again.

 

“Come get your bag, don’t leave it by the front door!”

 

Moon groaned, then lifted her head up and moved herself off of the bed. Moon threw open the door to her room and walked back outside. A bunch of grocery bags were laid out onto the kitchen counter, and her mom looked a little more than exhausted. Her mom handed her bag to her, and Moon sighed, beginning to drag it back to her room. Rotom had stayed in her room, occupied by looking at something outside.

 

“By the way, Moon, Kukui came and talked to me before I went to the grocery. We think it’s best if your friend stays with him.”

 

“Oh. Uh. Alright then. That’s fine.”

 

No, no, darn it! They couldn’t! Moon hasn’t figured a single thing out yet! Maybe she should take some tips from her friends at school and set up a mock trial with them. Or, maybe not at all, because even that was scary to Moon. The way Kiawe’s gaze drove into her skull as he demanded an explanation from her was scary. Sophocles looming behind her didn’t help relent the pressure. It was, more or less, a bad idea. 

 

Well. Moon couldn’t actually do anything to stop him. Kukui knew them better than she did so maybe it was best for their emotional sake to stay with him but at the same time, it was just confusing. Everything, she meant. She still doesn’t know what’s going on, but Kukui insisted this morning that they were a good person.

 

But why would he have to insist something like that?! 

 

“Moon,” Her mom called out to her. “I gotta ask you something.”

 

Moon froze, her foot just barely over the line that crossed into her room.

 

“What in the world was going on this morning? What was with all the lies?”

 

...Alright. Maybe her mom didn’t actually believe any of that. Honestly, Moon didn’t blame her. She wouldn’t have believed herself if she was saying it either. Moon laughed awkwardly, setting her bag down just in front of her bedroom door before turning back around. Her mom was putting away groceries in the cabinets. The bags of food that person had when they got here were still sitting on the counter.

 

“...Oh, fine.”

 

Moon came forward and leaned against the counter. Rotom must have noticed her predicament just then and came back into the room, hovering just above her head before landing on top of it. 

 

She  _ did  _ have quite a bit of explaining to do. 

 

**.** **.** **.**

When you woke up, the sun was gone, and it was pitch black outside. Something from below hissed and sizzled, a sweet aroma drifting up the loft. You shift slightly on the sofa bed, only to realize a blanket had been draped over you. Kukui probably came back and noticed you’d fallen asleep after checking the loft out and put it over you.

 

You notice a lump just next to you and something curled against you. You reach out and pat the top of the lump, and it shifted just slightly. You raise the blanket up, seeing the top of Mimikyu’s costume peek out. You smile softly, reaching out to softly stroke his head. It seemed to rouse him, and with great struggle, sat up and looked to you. Mimikyu seemed to contemplate something for a moment before flopping back over against you, a small sound that sounded a lot like a yawn following afterward. He fell silent again, resuming his nap. You don’t doubt he’s tired after today. Pressing a small kiss to one of the ears on the costume, you sit up slowly and fix the blanket around him.

 

He could keep sleeping. You… sort of wanted to talk to Kukui more. You were a mess, yes, but the more you talked about it, the less of a mess it felt like in your head.

 

You climbed down the ladder and touched the floor below. You could see Kukui in the kitchen, stirring something in a pan. A little Rockruff was standing by his ankles. Oh, Kukui’s Rockruff. It’s so cute, you have to admit. 

 

At the sound of you approaching. Rockruff turned his head, and then yelped happily, bounding toward you. Kukui turned around at the commotion, but merely smiled when you winced as Rockruff rubbed the rocks around his neck onto your legs. It was a greeting, so you’re used to it. You reach down and gently pet the top of his head. He definitely seemed to remember you, as he twisted and winded around his ankles as you made your way toward the kitchen, demanding attention.

 

“Sleep well?” Kukui asked. 

 

“Oh. Um… Yeah. I didn’t mean to fall asleep though.”

 

“It’s fine. Hungry?”

 

You look toward what he’s stirring in the pan. You shake your head.

 

“...No, thank you though. I’m not that hungry.”

 

He doesn’t per say scold you, but he does continue stirring. Whatever’s sizzling in the pan smells really, really good. You don’t want to eat though. There’s not really any time to eat. There’s a bigger matter to discuss here. You have to find a way to talk to Gladion, even if it meant sending a letter, or even going to Akala Island without being noticed and seeing him again. You just knew you had to get back to him. It’s probably already worried him out of his mind if he’s been home yet.

 

“Not healthy to skip a meal,” Kukui commented. “Just have a little?”

 

“...Alright. But, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”

 

“Let’s get to the table first.”

 

Kukui pulls the pan off of the stove and sets it aside on a cooling pad, taking out two plates and puts a decent amount of what he fried on both. He handed one plate to you and then motioned for you to follow him after grabbing two forks. You do so, walking over to the couch once more and cringing at the sight of it. God, did you seriously have a breakdown on that thing just a few hours ago? How did Kukui even put up with it?

 

Ugh. Now’s not the time to start thinking like that.

 

Sitting down on the couch and putting your plate down onto the table, you take the fork from him and stare at the food considerably. You should eat first, you remind yourself, but that worry was going to stick inside your head until the end. It drove into your head over and over again. You didn’t really have a choice but to find a way to talk to Gladion again. You couldn’t let him think you were freeloading and when you had the chance to leave you did. You were eternally grateful for what he’s done for you, so the least you could do is talk to him. It’s actually all you could do now.

 

“So, what did ya want to talk about?” Kukui asked after taking a couple of bites of his own dinner. This is probably a lot for him in one day, but he didn’t seem like he minded. Something about it bugged you, about the fact he should be bugged and should be bothered that he’s sharing his house and food with you. But it’s not time to think like that. You can go upstairs and mope about your dismal situation later.

 

“There’s… Do you remember when I said I found a boy struggling to get by, so I brought him to Guzma after I took him to a Pokemon Center?”

 

Kukui nodded.

 

“Yeah. What exactly happened there?”

 

You swallowed harshly. Your food looked like it was slowly getting colder.

 

“I found him near Po Town. He was laying on the beach, crying into his sleeve, and a weird looking Pokemon with him. He was… not doing well. He looked nearly sick. So… I brought him to a Pokemon Center, along with the odd Pokemon. He fought back, for sure, even tried to run away from me, but I dragged him against his will. He… He could have died like that, y’know? When he was better, I asked where he lived so I could… well, take him home.”

 

You take a moment to catch your breath.

 

“He said he had nowhere to go. He’d just ran away from home, and when I suggested he go back, he said he couldn’t. He told me a whole lot about his home life, and by the sound of it, he had a pretty abusive mother. And… Well, those are the kinds of people we thrive on. I offered him a place in Team Skull, brought him to Guzma… he didn’t really join up with Team Skull other than offer to do dirty work for them.”

 

Kukui was listening intently. His eyes were gleaming, interested in your story.

 

“But… then came that whole thing between Guzma and I, and I had to get out of there. When it came time that I was going to be caught, that boy offered to hide me in the place he was staying temporarily. A motel.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

That’s… it, really. You and Gladion don’t really have an astounding backstory or anything. He was struggling, so you saved him, got him healthy, and gave him work. But you did leave just a minor detail out of this story. About his mother. You can’t say you personally know the lady yet, but Gladion does all too well. You sigh. What kind of place is the Aether Foundation, anyway?

 

“I really, really need to get to him. I have to tell him what’s happened. I don’t want him to think I was just… using him or anything.”

 

Kukui swallowed another bite of food.

 

“Why not call him?”

 

You grimace. Being reminded of the fact you actually managed to drop the one thing that would dead giveaway your connection to Gladion made you feel no smarter then you had felt earlier. 

 

“The number to the phone in the motel room we were staying at was on the key card. And… I dropped that when I ran from the grunts. So I just - “

 

You stop yourself, looking away. You couldn’t look at him. You didn’t need to for him to understand the situation.

 

“Ah. You gotta get back to him, yeah?”

 

You nod. You still didn’t look at him.

 

Kukui merely chuckled, reaching over to nudge your fork in the direction of your plate. The food had stopped steaming. You plunge it into one of the chunks of meat and bring it to you, chewing it thoughtfully. It was full of flavor, bursting in your mouth. Kukui was always a great cook. It compelled you to take another bite, and another, and soon your plate was half empty before Kukui started to talk again.

 

“We can get ya in contact with him. What’s his name?”

 

You take a moment to swallow the food in your mouth before you answer.

 

“Gladion.”

 

You finish up the rest of the plate with the last bite afterward. Kukui took a deep breath, taking his hat off for a moment and rubbing the hair there. You hear a noise from above and notice Mimikyu standing at the edge of the ladder, uncertain of what to do. He doesn’t seem like he wanted to jump down. With a small smile, you stand and walk over to it, climbing up just enough to where you at first thinking about grabbing him, but think twice, and then you hold out your arm. Mimikyu grabbed on gently, and you walk back down, setting him on the floor.

 

Rockruff walked over to Mimikyu curiously. Mimikyu isn’t really a social Pokemon, so when Rockruff began to nose at his costume, going as far as to nibble on one of his ears, he growled for a warning. You give Mimikyu a scowl of disapproval. Rockruff whimpered and backed up slightly, confused as to why his display of affection was rejected just before Mimikyu walked forward to rub his cheeks underneath Rockruff’s chin. Might as well make friends if you’re gonna be stuck here, right?

 

“I’m gonna head downstairs for a bit,” Kukui called out to you. You notice he’s taken up the plates and set them in the sink by the time you turned around. 

 

“Need anything?” He asked. You shake your head.

 

“Alright. Come get me if you need me. I’ll look into what we can do about you friend. But for now I really think it’s best if you stay here.”

 

It’s understandable. You didn’t think it was a good idea at first but if Kukui planned on helping you back to Akala Island, then your best course of action would be to stay here with him. He could protect you from everything out there to get you right now. You sighed, and come to sit on the couch, leaning your head back onto it as you took a deep breath. Your head was properly pounding harshly, you just notice. It hurt.

 

Too much emotional drain, you bet.

 

You lay on the couch for a while, too uncertain of what to do over anything else. It’s when you look at your Z-Ring again that you reflect on something far in the past. Mimikyu is currently nudging a stray toy toward Rockruff, who happily picks it up with his mouth and tossed it further ahead, causing them both to almost fall over one another to chase after it. It’s dim in the house right now, and besides the sound of the two Pokemon playing on the floor, it’s completely silent. Kukui isn’t doing anything else below. Or at least, you can’t hear him down there.

 

_ “You came this far and you want to stop now?” _

 

_ The man watched as you clicked the Ghostium Z into your Z-Ring. You lower your eyes, but you’re still smiling. Mimikyu is by your side, ever so faithfully waiting for your journey to continue. _

 

_ “I don’t want to stop. But I’m a little lost on where to go from here.” _

 

_ “Don’t look to me for help. I ain’t gonna give you advice.” _

 

_ “I wasn’t asking for it.” _

 

_ “...Good. Get movin’ then. I gotta go make sure the Totem is okay.” _

 

_ “It’s fine.” _

 

_ You watch as he moved around you. He’s got such a dark look in his eyes, and it’s unsettling. But he’s genuine about his words. You look down toward Mimikyu, who looked back curiously. You clasp your hands in front of you before sighing. Something about all of this just didn’t feel… right. You’ve come all this way, beaten three Kahunas, and yet, you feel like something is… more or less, missing. It’s like it doesn’t fulfill you. You touch the Ghostium Z with the tips of your fingers and begin to think better about yourself. You debate about turning back, turning and going home, but it just didn’t… feel right. Neither did moving on. _

 

_ What were you supposed to do? _

 

You hadn’t known back then. You’d taken your victory and tried to keep going. But then…

 

_ You knew someone had been watching you this entire time. It’d felt like it since you were on the beach. It certainly wasn’t the Kahuna, because he was inside checking on the Totem. You turned every which way, and Mimikyu pulled a claw back, prepared to strike at any second at any threat that came forward. It was the first time you’d ever met him. _

 

_ “Busy? Can ya spare a boy ya time?” _

 

_ “...Excuse me?” _

 

_ You turned around, glancing at the ma who - more or less - came out of the shadows. Mimikyu growled lowly, but you stop him. You should really wait before you get to be on the defensive. _

 

_ “Trial-goer?” He asked. _

 

_ “...Yeah. Why?” _

 

_ “Is it fulfilling?” _

 

_ You shift from one foot to the other. The black sand beneath you was so soft you almost sank into it. You shrug. _

 

_ “I… don’t know anymore.” _

 

_ “It ain’t giving you a thing.” _

 

_ You nibble your lower lip, then nod. _

 

_ “I guess. Not… really. It feels like a chore now.” _

 

_ The man clapped his hands together, then came closer. That’s when you tensed, and when Mimikyu stepped in front of you. You didn’t prevent his growling and hissing this time. Mimikyu could be possessive of you if things got carried away. You look around, seeing if the Kahuna had come out of the familiar abandoned super market yet. He hadn’t. _

 

_ “Consider quitting,” The man called out to you, though it was obvious he was intimidated by Mimikyu’s threats.  _

 

_ “I can make it worth your while.” _

 

He did at first. And then it came crashing down.

 

Shaking your head, you glance over to Mimikyu, who’s currently in a sort of play wrestle with Rockruff. It seemed the two of them had become friends rather quickly. With a deep breath, you walk over to the nearby window and out at the beach. It feels like it could be nice to step out for a bit. Then again, the last time you thought that you ended up getting chased off of an island and away from someone who cared about you immensely. 

 

But your Z-Ring… Ghostium Z…

 

Do you still have it in you?

 

Would it… hurt to start trying again?

 

Kukui probably wouldn’t be upset at you if you walked outside for a moment. Just to the edge of the waters. You like the ocean anyway. You like the smell of the salt in the air.

 

“Mimikyu,” You called out to him. He turned to look at you. “Let’s step out for a moment.”

 

You can’t see his eyes, but there’s judgement behind that costume. You frown.

 

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re just gonna walk to the water.”

 

Mimikyu hesitated, then it walked forward, leaving Rockruff and his toy alone. You walk over to the front door, and as quietly as you were able open it. Mimikyu slipped out first and you close the door behind you.

 

Stepping outside, for some reason, didn’t seem as scary as it had merely hours earlier in the day. It’s probably because you’re tired.

 

Once you’re a good ways down the beach, you turn to Mimikyu with a smile.

 

“Alright, buddy. Let’s try our Z-Move.”

 

Mimikyu made a questioning noise.

 

“It’s been a while. Let’s see if we can still do it. I think we can.”

 

Mimikyu has been by your side this entire time, so how could you two not be able to do it? Mimikyu knew your darkest secrets, ones that you didn’t even tell your friends back in the day. He was your best friend, no matter what. You loved him dearly for that. So you have faith in the both of you that you could do this.

 

Mimikyu took his position, as did you. You both took deep breaths, as if trying to feel the energy in one another. You reach out and connect with him, feel his love for you. You return it with equal passion. Mimikyu felt no different about you. He felt as if you were his best friend too. It made you feel like you were tearing up inside from the amount of trust the both of you had for each other. 

 

“Thank you for being by my side,” You say, a certain familiar light beginning to surround both you and Mimikyu. You were sharing energy now. Love. Compassion. Friendship. It was the overwhelming emotions you felt whenever you performed a Z Move. You remember a time in the past when you’d amazed your own opponents with this move. They were defeated, yes, but no one can be upset at a defeat when you see a Z Move performed before your very own eyes.

 

This was all too familiar to you at this point.

 

All you had to do was what the Kahuna taught you, and then push forward…

 

A pain lit up in your head, and your body felt frozen all of the sudden. 

 

Something felt  _ wrong _ .

 

Something felt… like it was going downhill. It wasn’t your friendship, or your compassion for one another. It’s…

 

It’s your own body.

 

A Z Move required both the trainer and the Pokemon to be energetic, but here you were, faltering. You felt horrible all of the sudden. It had to be the emotional drainage. 

 

You’re not strong enough right now to do this. You stumbled for a second, and the light disappeared. You feel tired.

 

You feel all strength leave your body in an instant, and before the move can even be complete, you falling forward, onto the sand, and the light is gone.

 

**.** **.** **.**

Moon’s mother wasn’t angry by the time she finished her explanation. Just told Moon to be honest next time, blah blah blah, the usual spiel about honesty. The entire time before she could speak, Rotom cut in and interrupted her, trying to say something to defend her. Moon eventually plucked it out of the air and covered its speakers. Rotom twisted and turned, trying to escape her grasp and even raised its volume to get a word in, but she really needed to say this herself, not Rotom.

 

She’d eaten dinner, fed both the Dex and Popplio by the time she glanced out her window, out toward the distant beach.

 

She noticed a figure moving there. A person.

 

That person! Maybe if she were quick enough…

 

Moon hopped off of her bed, startling Rotom, who’d been laying on her stomach for a quick re-charge. It blinked awake and watched as she was tugging on her shoes.

 

“Wazzat? What’re you doing?” Rotom asked. 

 

“They’re outside! Maybe if we hurry we can catch them!”

 

Rotom had no interjections. A small heart appeared on its screen for only a second, and a daydreaming sigh follow afterward. Moon almost rolled her eyes. Of course it would follow with no interjections, with its stupid little crush and all. It’s almost gross, but kind of cute, Moon guessed.

 

Moon was rushing to get out the door. Her mom was sipping on some tea, reading a book. She glanced at Moon.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“Down to the beach!”

 

“This late? Moon, I - “

 

“Be back in a bit!”

 

Moon nearly tripped once she was outside, but kept going. The beach was just a little further down, just a little further and she’d have her answers - !

 

There was a bright flash of light. When it died down, the person she was dying to talk to had fallen forward, into the sand. Their Mimikyu had waddled up to them quickly, nudging them with his claw. He made a distressed noise, loud enough that Moon could hear it. Moon felt her own chest tighten. She didn’t know what it was exactly, but -

 

Moon rushed forward. Rotom followed, both of them in a rush.

 

“Zzt! Emergency, emergency! They’re running a fever! Their exhaustion levelzzz are through the roof!”

 

“I-I’ll go get Kukui!” Moon exclaimed. Rotom and Mimikyu stayed close to them. She grabbed the knob to Kukui’s house and threw it open.

 

“Professor! Professor! Something’s happened! It’s an emergency!”

 

Moon didn’t get a response. In fact, seconds later, there were thumping foot steps and a somewhat wide-eyed Kukui glancing around. Once he saw the person wasn’t in his house anymore, he bolted forward and outside. Just as she had, he nearly slipped as he ran down the sand toward them. Mimikyu was brushing his cheeks against their face, as if trying to wake them up. It was making soft noises. Rotom buzzed.

 

“Mimikyu’s super sad…!”

 

“What happened?” Kukui asked, nearly skidding once he reached them. Rotom shook its head. Moon shrugged.

 

“I’m sorry, we don’t know. There was a bright light, and then… they fell. I didn’t see anything else.”

 

Kukui was lifting them up into his arms and into his lap by the time she’d gotten done explaining. Kukui brought a hand to their face, patting it gently without being too harsh.

 

“Kiddo? Talk to me. Wake up.”

 

They didn’t respond. Mimikyu’s whimpers worsened, increasingly becoming louder. He paced around on the sand, stopping every few seconds to glance at his trainer. 

 

Kukui stood, holding them closely to him.

 

“Sounds like they mighta tried a Z Move. But their body is tired, so they wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Don’t worry about ‘em. They’ll be okay, yeah? Just let ‘em rest up for a bit.”

 

Moon nodded. Mimikyu instantly followed Kukui the second he started walking back toward his house, and then sighed. She felt horrible - like maybe she could have stopped them if she was quick enough. Maybe. She couldn’t have known this was going to happen. She’s never used a Z Move before, much less has a Z Ring yet. They seemed tedious. Like they needed to be taken very seriously. Moon watched as Kukui disappeared inside the house.

 

Today was a disaster. Maybe tomorrow, things would go a little better. For the both of them

 

**.** **.** **.**

 

“Where again?”

 

“Ula’ula Island. Don’t worry. I’ll be back before morning.”

 

Hala reached over to briefly ruffle Hau’s hair. Hau felt something deep inside of him stir unhappily, like something about this wasn’t right. Tutu was going to take a ship over to Ula’ula Island to investigate a situation about Team Skull taking over Po Town. It’s been a situation for quite a while, but as a Kahuna himself he felt the need to speak to the one over there for pointers. Hau didn’t know how he felt about it, but…

 

They were on Akala Island for the moment. Tutu let Hau come with him today for a little exploring. For being the Kahuna of Melemele, Tutu liked to travel a lot to the other islands for company and adventure. Hau liked it, but…

 

He frowned once he saw his Tutu heading for the boat in the other town. Tutu made plans to send Hau back to Melemele…

 

Hau could make it onto the boat without being noticed. He really wanted to see Tutu in action when he’s being super cool at business and… well, the other fancy stuff adults did. He could pretend like he was apart of it too! 

 

He finished munching on the snack Tutu bought him from the store, and began to put his little plan in motion, but stopped abruptly when he saw something reflecting light on the ground.

 

A… key card? Looked like it belonged to a motel.

 

...There was a motel up ahead, wasn’t there? Hau should go take it to the person who lost it. They might have nowhere else to sleep to night. He contemplated going for the boat again, but Tutu knew how to do business without him. Besides, the ship that Tutu got for him specifically wouldn’t take off without him. They’d leave at his ready. 

 

Moving his backpack further up on his shoulder, he began to make his way in the direction of the motel.

 

“Wait, Hau! We need to get you back to Melemele - “ One of the ship crew members called out to him.

“Ah, just one moment! I’ll be back in a bit!”

 

Hau ran up the street, not giving them the chance to respond. They’d be fine. One of them had shouted for someone to follow him to be sure he didn’t trip up, get in trouble, or get lost, but Hau was too far gone to be followed. He was smiling the entire way, all too happy to acknowledge he was doing a good deed and having the chance to explore an island other than Melemele this time. The breeze here felt different, and the smells in the air were fresh - salty, sweety, and a little dusty from the mountains he was passing. It felt like he was on an adventure.

 

The motel came into sight not too long after his little run. He smiled upon sight of it and walked forward, looking at the key card’s room number. It didn’t take long, so he stomped up the steps and knocked on the door. His grin got bigger, his excitement building. His heart was pounding. He was absolutely pretending like he’d come here all by himself, with only a team of Pokemon by his side and -

 

The door opened, a hand twisting into his shirt, yanking him inside.

 

It startled him, and Hau yelped.

 

“Where have you been?! You made me think you were kid… napped…”

 

Hau stumbled inside the room, the shout breaking the brief daze the rush of motion put him in. He turned his head every which way, before his eyes landed on a blonde boy standing by the door. He… didn’t look too friendly, but he also looked really young. Hau didn’t see his parents in the room anywhere.

 

“Oh! Um… Sorry. If… I bothered you.” Hau said in an attempt to break the ice, showing him the key card. “I found this key card by the supermarket, and I thought I’d bring it to - “

 

“The supermarket?”

 

The boy walked forward and snatched it out of his hand. Hau tried his hardest to not stop smiling. This boy really wasn’t a pocket of sunshine, that was for sure.

 

“Did you see who dropped it? Where they went?”

 

Hau looked at him, and then shook his head. It seemed like something else much bigger was going on here.

 

“Sorry. I didn’t see who it was. Is something wrong? Could I help you? I’m the grandson of the Kahuna of Melemele Island.”

 

The boy gave him a glare, shoving the key card into his pocket. He moved forward and crossed his arms. Hau had to admit, he was definitely intimidated. But this was still exciting! Maybe he really could handle some serious business after all! It wouldn’t be so bad. All he had to do was find this person that this boy was looking for.

 

“I don’t think you could help. Just… Keep an eye out for this person. If you find them, bring them here. They’re my… friend.”

 

“Significant other?”

 

“I said friend, you idiot.”

 

The boy had shoved his hand into his pocket and yanked out a photo. It looked old, and the boy himself wasn’t even in it. This photo… almost looked like a class photo. Hau recognized the name of the school that was lining the bottom of the paper. That’s the Pokemon School in Melemele Island! Maybe Hau could be of use after all! The photo looked well worn and the date was from about a year or so ago, but it would be a good place to start looking. Hau memorized the look of the person in his head, and then nodded.

 

“Alright! I can do that. Um… what’s your name?”

 

The boy scoffed. He didn’t want Hau here anymore.

 

“Get out.”

 

“I’m Hau.”

 

“I’m done with you.”

 

“...Nice to meet you too?”

 

The boy promptly walked over to the door and opened it, crossing his arms and sent Hau another glare. Hau almost frowned, but instead shrugged it off. He had a good lead. He could help someone for once! It would be so cool to help people like his Tutu did. He wondered if Tapu Koko would find a good Kahuna in Hau some day too. That meant he had to start building up his reputation, and he had to do it now.

 

“Gladion.”

 

Hau was only a foot out the door when the boy spoke up.

 

“Huh?”

 

“My name. It’s Gladion. Thanks for returning the key card.”

 

And then the door was shut in Hau’s face before Hau could say anything else.

 

Well, that didn’t really matter for now. If Hau looked at the Pokemon School for now, then maybe soon he could help that boy - Gladion - find his friend.

 

Hau walked with a skip in his step.

  
This was, overall, really exciting! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhhh i can't believe how quickly im getting these chapters out lol.
> 
> anyway, if you enjoyed, remember to please leave a kudos!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hala and Nanu have a talk. You wake up from your incident and Rotom Dex tries to hit on you.

Kahuna Hala was, in fact, a patient man.

 

So if you managed to whittle down that patience to nothing but a thin string waiting to be snapped, you have to be the most difficult, unruly person he’s ever talked to. He’s been upset times in the past, had his moments where he was angry, but this person… was _frustrating_. 

 

“So you’re going to leave an entire town's worth of people homeless?”

 

Hala tightened his fists, and then relaxed them, briefly scolding himself for allowing his own frustrate to advance that far. Anger would never be a way to settle an argument calmly. He had to keep his head leveled and rational. The Kahuna of Ula’ula had merely shrugged, the dark look never leaving his red eyes, lounging back in his chair like he was talking to a difficult customer that wouldn’t give up. Hala thought he might have been doing the Kahuna a favor by showing up and talking him out of his haze and helping drive those Team Skull thugs out of Po Town, but it seemed this man was too far gone in his own head, drowning in his dismal dark dilemma that was himself.

 

“They’ve relocated. They ain’t doin’ any harm.”

 

This man was not even beginning to take the job of a Kahuna seriously. He was writing everyone off like they weren't his business. That frustration derived from anger was building up in his chest again.

 

“These thugs… have _endlessly_ caused trouble for not only Ula’ula Island, but Melemele, Akala, and Poni! You have their _base_ , Kahuna Nanu. Why haven’t you done anything about this?”

 

“Ain’t no stoppin’ them. You gotta learn when to quit.”

 

Hala had never found himself capable of such rage. 

 

“Learn when to - are you mad? You’re a Kahuna! You’re responsible for the well-being of these people!”

 

“Didn’t ask for this job. You know the rules like I do, Hala. Once the Tapu shows up, you can’t refuse.”

 

Then why did the Tapu pick someone so - well, to put it _lightly_ \- incapable of the job? Nanu wasn’t going to do anything, and it seemed no matter what Hala said, he wasn’t going to have his mind changed. His seriously going to leave them be, let an entire town’s worth of people live in hotels and rundown motels until they have no choice but to buy new homes and find new jobs. This was ridiculous. The Tapu has to be 100% certain when choosing a Kahuna, but did Tapu Bulu know what he was doing? Did it make the best decision it could? How could Nanu, a man who's too far gone dealing with his darkness, protect an entire island of people?

 

“I know you got a kiddo waiting for you back at home,” Nanu said. “Heard he's a bright boy. Why not run back to Melemele now? Besides, I’m about to lock up the station for the night.”

 

And now Nanu was trying to write _him_ off. That was enough to finally break Hala's patience with him.

 

“Do you even take your job seriously? Do you even _care_ about those people who’ve lost their homes, their jobs, their lives, their everything! Answer me that. Do you care?”

 

His voice was deep, breaking through the silence of the station was an echo. The Meowth gathered in the back had stopped their gentle meows and glanced up at Hala. He was a gentle man, handled Pokemon well, but Hala believed this to be the first time he's ever seen a Pokemon look intimidated by him abruptly. It wasn't intentional, but those big-eyed stares frightened him. He should know how to handle himself at this point and how to keep up his composure.

  
  
Unexpectedly, Nanu’s face fell into a grimace. Hala was expecting another shrug, or another sigh, but Nanu had actually frowned hearing that. He acted as if Hala had slapped him dead across the face. Maybe Hala had went too far, said something he shouldn’t, but if Nanu didn’t want to be seen like that, then perhaps it was time for him to realize the position he was given.

 

“Hala. Tell me how you would feel seein’ a kid, full of bright hope and takin’ on these trials, turn to Team Skull for comfort when they’re lost.”

 

Where was this coming from? Had something happened Hala wasn’t aware of?

 

“Pardon?”

 

“There was a kid some time ago who came and challenged me with their Mimikyu after beating the Totem Pokemon. They won, but they admitted to me they felt lost. I told ‘em I wasn’t gonna give ‘em advice. Some time later, I recognized their face under a Team Skull mask. How would you feel?”

 

The dark look in Nanu’s eyes got worse. Nanu looked frustrated. Ashamed of himself. Sad even. Nanu definitely wasn’t showing he was upset before this, but upon mentioning of that kid, he’d forced out an emotion or two. Hala was going to be honest.

 

“I… would certainly not be proud of myself.”

 

Nanu snapped his fingers.

 

“Exactly. If I can’t even help a kid get back on the right path, then I certainly ain’t capable of stopping an entire town filled with thugs. I’m one man, Hala. You could give me an inch and I’d take a mile and I’d still probably wouldn’t be good enough to stop ‘em.”

 

One of the many Meowths inside had finally approached despite the previous disruption, hopping up and brushed its face against Nanu’s cheek. 

 

Hala felt stumped.

 

“Kahuna Nanu, allow me. I may be Kahuna of Melemele, but I would not be living up to my job if I didn’t offer to do something. Please. What can I do to help?”

 

Nanu was stroking the head of the Meowth when he let out yet another sigh. He shook his head. A Persian came up and joined the prowl for attention seconds later, brushing up against Nanu’s leg. With a hand on both heads of the Pokemon, Nanu gave Hala a stern look. He was more than done with this conversation - in fact, he looked as if he wished it had never started in the first place. Nanu surely wasn’t fit for this job, and even he himself put his own image out there like that. Nanu accepted that there was nothing he could do.

 

“Run along,” Nanu said. “I’m closin’ up the station.”

 

“Kahuna Nanu - “

 

“Drop the ‘Kahuna’ and leave the station, Hala. You said what you needed to.”

 

Hala frowned, his brows furrowing.

 

“Allow me to at least - “

 

“Allow me to give yourself the opportunity to walk out here by choice before my Persian does.”

 

The Persian glanced up at Hala with curiosity. The Pokemon had mischief lurking in its expression. The gem on its head glowed as a warning, still affectionately rubbing its cheeks against Nanu. It’s eyes were as dark as a Pokemon could look though. It was obedient and loving toward Nanu, surely a result from the constant time Nanu had spent with it. Nanu could spend all this time lavishing his precious Meowths and Persian with gifts and love, but he couldn’t dedicate a second to those in need?

 

Hala understood how Nanu must be feeling. Nanu felt guilty about having not helped a child make a good decision, which landed them on a bad spot in life due to joining Team Skull. But that should be even more motivation to strap down and make a plan to get those thugs out of there and into some - Hala doesn’t know, community service? Something good they could do to give back to the community? To the things they destroyed? All the while helping them figure out where they needed to go next in life so they don't turn to a life of crime again?

 

Hala had no choice then. He wasn't wanted here.

 

“...As you wish, Nanu. Remember what I said.”

 

Nanu scoffed.

 

“I meant what I said, Hala. If I go in there to stop them, I’d come out as scraps.”

 

Hala wished he could have said something to give him courage to break out of guilt and darkness to give himself another chance to fight, but his words failed. It wasn't worth fighting at the moment. And without a second thought, Hala turned his back and left the station. Nanu watched as the door to the station close, and he waited until Hala was a good bit away from the door to get up and lock it. The Meowths in the station looked confused as to why their owner was suddenly so irate, but Nanu took a deep breath and looked out at the gloomy night. Everything was gray.

 

“...I ain’t no miracle worker, Hala. Sorry I can’t do anything else.”

 

There was, in fact, more to the story of course. Hala didn’t need to know that.

 

**.** **.** **.**

_ The stones on the path are so slick you almost fall. You feel yourself skid a few inches forward before you balance yourself, wasting no time turning on your heel and narrowly avoiding the sight of grunts looking for you. You’re just barely ahead of everyone before a rather tough looking woman stood in front of the exit, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at you. She was judging you. You swallow harshly. You know the grunts behind you are closing in. Any second now and you’d be dragged back to the mansion whether or not you liked it. With a deep breath, you run forward, surprising her. _

 

_ You loop around her, confusing her as you allow the slickness of the rocks to carry you quickly over the space between you and the door with ease. You run outside without hesitation. You feel dirty. _

 

_ “After them, you dummies!” _

 

_ It’s the adrenaline running through your veins that makes you go even faster, nearly forgetting which way to turn when you’re outside the walls of Po Town. It takes you a second to remember and gather yourself, running in the direction that would take you further from the disgusting place. You find a place, a small hidden corner and tuck yourself there. You could feel Mimikyu wiggle in his Poke Ball, begging to be let out, but you take a second to stop, merely patting the ball in reassurance. You swallow the air you breathe in desperately, then when you think the coast is clear, you step out slowly and cautiously. _

 

_ You turn your back, shivering as your soaked clothes suddenly felt tight and cold. A hand grabs you by the back of your shirt and yanks you back toward the corner. A hand covers your mouth and the other one wrapping around your waist. Someone’s breath brushed up against your ear as they spoke. _

 

_ “Don’t move.” _

 

_ You struggle against them, but they tighten their grip on you. You’re shivering, cold, scared, and most of all confused. _

 

_ Just then, a few more unexpected grunts run by, and a certain man following behind them, shouting curses at the top of his lungs in a gruff voice. He was angry. It took them a moment to move on, and when they’re out of sight and a good distance away from the place you were hiding, the person lets go of you. You turn around, wide-eyed and afraid when - _

 

_ “K...Kahuna Nanu?” _

 

_ He smirked. _

 

_ “Nice to see ya kid. Or. Maybe not the best phrase right now.” _

 

_ You have flashbacks back to when you'd taken on his trial, beat the Totem Pokemon, had that conversation with him afterward before running into your new boss. Guilt, although it was already there, began to build up again. This was someone who'd seen you before you made this decision, and it made you feel like the clothes stuck to your body was covered in dirt and grime. You didn’t want him to see you like this. You lower your eyes to the ground, and then before you can hold it back, a tear slipped out. You feel horrible. You **are** horrible.  _

 

_ “No.” Nanu said, his voice firm. “Dry them tears. I gotta get you back to the station.” _

 

_ You take a step back from him. Again, he shook his head. _

 

_ “If I wanted to arrest ya I woulda made a scene out of it. You need some place to stay for the moment, right? Can’t have your buddies findin’ ya.” _

 

_ You have no idea if you can trust him or not, but you didn't have time to think about it because it's somewhere to go. You nod, though slowly. You don’t resist when he began to walk and gestured for you to follow. You’re nervous, you’re scared, and Nanu seemed to recognize this. He doesn’t coddle you though. He doesn’t offer a second of comfort, but the place to stay - the place to hide - was enough. You can find someone to give you attention later if you so desperately need it. _

 

_ The entire time you’re walking, you never look up once. _

 

_ You’re too afraid to see you’re alone again. _

 

In the distance, you can hear a sort of… whimpering. A ceaseless whimpering followed by the sound of someone trying to soothe worries of someone else. It was met with even louder distressed noises, and the other voice sighed, saying something along the lines of, "Please stop crying, you've been doing this all night." This whimpering was familiar to you, like you’d heard it before. But it was rare. You remember distinctly you _don’t_ like hearing that whimpering, because it meant something was wrong with something near and dear to you. You can’t bring yourself to open your eyes again, as if there was something in the lurking distance of that dream filled with your memories that you had to remember.

 

But you open them anyway.

 

The first thing you immediately notice is that your vision is filled with red and blue. Something is hovering inches from your face.

 

“Zzt! They’re awake!”

 

That voice…

 

Oh _god_. It’s that creepy Rotom thing, just barely above your face, enough to qualify as not touching.

 

You certainly don’t miss the heart that floated up onto its screen before disappearing. It's so unsettling that you almost cringe. With a frown, you nudge the thing back and try your hardest to sit up. Your body doesn’t comply right away, instead trying to insist by itself that you lay back down. Your muscles were aching and you feel like you were practically a rag doll. You’re sitting up slowly when a small bundle of soft cloth and warmth came barreling toward you, landing onto your stomach with a harsh crash. The familiar Pokemon rubbed his face into your neck, small noises that sounded almost thankful coming from underneath its costume.

 

Mimikyu.

 

“See, Mimikyu? Told ya they would be fine, yeah?”

 

Kukui was here too, sitting merely inches from you. 

 

Err… Why is the Rotom thing here then? Where is Moon?

 

“Hey, sweetie,” You coo softly, trying to quell the obvious worry coming off of Mimikyu. You try and not scold him, but your body is tired. His weight on top of you is a bit overbearing, but instead, you try to sit up again. In a second, Kukui is off the couch and behind you, helping you sit up slowly and leaning you against something. God, your head is pounding with undeniable pain. It felt like someone swung a hammer at it. Mimikyu is a bit disturbed by the movement, but he settled down on your stomach once you’d fully settled down.

 

“You feelin’ alright?” Kukui asked once you were adjusted. Rotom hovered over his shoulder, its intense stare digging into your skull. You wish you could shoo it away, but you would almost feel bad. Looking around, you realize you’re in the living room, and laying on the couch. You nod.

 

“Um… Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

“Remember what happened?”

 

How could you not?

 

“Yeah. Z-Move. Didn’t work out.”

 

Kukui sighed in relief as Rotom came forward, cutting between the two of you and using one of its “hands” to run along your forehead. A beep followed, and a number was flashing on the screen. Mimikyu was growling lowly, though again like before, Rotom didn’t take notice to it, nor was it intimidated by the noise. Or perhaps it was so wrapped up in being near you that it completely forgot what being threatened sounded like.

 

“Zzt! Their fever izzz down. I would recommend a nice glass of cold water and a healthy breakfast to start them right today. It’ll give them more energy to make up for what they lost last night, zzt!”

 

Kukui let go of you to lower Rotom from the air so he could get a better look at you.

 

“It’s right. I’ll make you breakfast. You gonna be alright for a minute?”

 

It’s not like you want to make him worry even more.

 

“Yeah.”

 

With a reassuring smile, Kukui stood and made his way toward the kitchen. He’s still in his pajamas, wearing only his sweat pants and hair tied back. You don’t really expect the shirt anymore. You’re used to it. There's the clinking of plates and the sound of the fridge opening only a minute later. You're too busy rubbing Mimikyu's cheeks to have really been bothered by the noise. Mimikyu is taking in the affection like he had never been pet before in his entire life, but you'd probably worried him sick the second you had collapsed. 

 

“Zzt! Sooo… Come ‘round here often?”

 

Not this again. You pause in rubbing Mimikyu's cheeks to glance back toward the Rotom.

 

“What?”

 

“Here. At the professor’zzz place. Kinda nice, right? I like it. I was just wondering... if you liked it too, zzt?”

 

The Rotom got closer.

 

“And… y’know, since you stay here… Maybe we’ll see each other more often?”

 

Oh my - _what?_ This thing was _so_ creepy. You've never trusted it since you saw it yesterday because something about it unsettled you. Mimikyu is more than done with it, especially since apparently you blacked out and he’s not happy a love-induced Rotom is trying to violate his time with you.

 

“Kukui?” You called out.

 

“Yeah?”

 

You're eyeing the Rotom with a stern gaze (to which the heart reappears due to the attention) as you call out again.

 

“Why is this Rotom hitting on me?”

 

There was a pause, all sound ceasing for a second before loud laughter came from the kitchen area. The Rotom looked confused, a small icon appearing on its screen, question marks floating around there. You try not to look at it. Okay, in truth, it is just a Pokemon, so you don't want to hurt its feelings. But it was going too far with this cutesy obsession its developed with you. And its only been an entire day since you've been here! Can't it go crush on... you don't know, another Rotom? What do Rotom find attractive in each other?

 

“Haha! Ask it on a date, then!”

 

The Rotom suddenly lit up.

 

“A date?! With me, zzt?!”

 

Where was - you’ve only been awake for a good five solid minute. You quite literally fainted last night and didn’t wake up until morning. Did this have to happen now? Was it necessary for this creepy thing to be looking forward to a date with you? No wait, you're not going on a date with it, what the hell are you thinking? It just needed to back off and have some sense flicked into it by Moon or something. Before you do it. Or more likely, before Mimikyu does it. You don’t even really know what this Rotom is supposed to be, and if Moon told you, you certainly don’t remember a thing. 

 

“Wh - Where is Moon?! Why isn’t this thing with her?!”

 

“I’m pretty sure it snuck out to come see ya. A hidden romance?”

 

This was getting grosser by the second. The Rotom looked hopeful, tapping its “hands” together nervously. It was seriously waiting for a yes or no from you. With a deep breath, you cross your arms and frown at it. Mimikyu was still taking the defensive, having been displeased by the majority of what’s transpiring.

 

And as if on cue, there was loud banging at the door. With a sigh, and a bit of an annoyed expression, Rotom floated over to the door before any of them could get to it. Huffing, Mimikyu flopped against you, comfortable finally now that the Rotom had stopped invading both of your spaces. 

 

“Where have you been?!”

 

“Uwahh - !”

 

You turn your head to see Moon walk into the house, hair ruffled and shoes not even tied. She had just woken up by the looks of things, and anger painted her expression. She was huffing, as if she’d just got done running a long distance. The Rotom looked sheepish all of the sudden.

 

“I wanted to be sure that they were - “

 

“Don’t - Don’t sneak out, you doofus! You had me worried!”

 

As if Kukui couldn’t have laughed harder, he proved himself wrong. He had to be highly entertained by all of this. Mimikyu just merely took a deep breath and relaxed, blocking out all the noise and seemingly falling asleep. You lift a hand and place it over him, quietly stroking his back as Moon grabbed Rotom by its arm.

 

“Sorry, Kukui!” She called out.

 

“A-Ain’t no problem, Moon! It’s all - haha! - it’s all good!”

 

Obviously embarrassed, Moon shut the door behind her with a loud slam. You could hear her scolding the Rotom from inside the house and Rotom desperately trying to make up for it by stuttering out multiple apologies. The shouting disappeared slowly the more distance was put between the house and Moon, and with a gentle breath, you relax against the couch. Mimikyu was sound asleep, happy to have finally seen you awake again.

 

Kukui came back into the living room minutes later, a plate of berries and chopped fruit on a plate. He placed it on the table in front of you. You nod your thanks, and careful to not disturb Mimikyu, you reach over and pluck a fruit off the plate and pop it into your mouth. You don’t realize it until now, but you really won’t have to worry about whether or not you eat for the time being. Kukui wouldn’t let you skip a meal, and he’d make sure you were healthy.

 

“So,” Kukui started, leaning back against the couch. “You and Rotom? Never woulda thought.”

 

“Kukui!”

 

“Tell me. When’s the wedding?”

 

You groaned, dropping your head down into your hand.

  
Stupid Rotom thingy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rotom is looking forward to that date, alright. don't forget. six o'clock sharp. dress casually but nice casual.
> 
> also mimikyu flops over like a bunny when content its now canon pass it on


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hau visits the Pokemon School during a not-so-good time. Moon and Kukui couldn't keep the secret forever, after all.
> 
> Oh. And Gladion's coming to visit.

Hau could barely wait to tell Tutu what his plans for the day were. Every morning started with a speech over a breakfast consisting of quality ripe berries and MooMoo Milk delivered straight from the best farm in all of Alola. He’s always tuned in and listening to everything Tutu says because of how wise and strong he is, but today - a brand new day - meant he could go looking for the person that Gladion was looking for. It may take some explaining for Tutu to understand, but he’s already stretching by the time Hau wakes up, which is bright and early. Breakfast would be ready in another 30 minutes. The sun is barely cracking over the distant rippling waters of the ocean, spreading the pink colors of the sunset over the clear clean waters. Hau wondered if he looked close enough if he could see the Bruxish or Wishiwashi that came near the shores in the morning before they swam away into deeper waters, acknowledging the existence of early morning fishermen who prefer the shallow waters. 

 

“Tutu,” Hau said, causing his grandfather to pause mid-stretch. He seemed surprised by this. Tutu is doing extra stretches today for some reason, a bead of sweat already gathering on his brow. When he returned home last night, he looked upset, and most of all frustrated. He never did think he could ever see his grandfather like this. Hau tried to ask what happened while he was at Ula’ula Island last night, but Tutu grabbed his shoulders and with a desperate raspy tone made Hau promise that no matter how grim things seem that he’ll never leave anyone in danger. It was weird, and despite Hau promising he would  _ never  _ do that, he still asked what his grandfather meant. Tutu looked almost sad with the way he drew Hau into a hug and said that he’d love Alola and Hau no matter what, even if Hau really did give up one day. That kind of talk scared him.

 

Hau never got an answer, but his curiosity never died down. It didn’t matter because this morning Tutu seemed better, and Hau had someone he felt compelled to help.

 

“I’m gonna go to the Pokemon School today.”

 

“Hm? Are my teachings not satisfactory?”

 

Hau gasped, then shook his head.

 

“No! You’re great, Tutu! I met someone on Akala island last night who lost a friend. I think they’re at the Pokemon School.”

 

His grandfather’s brows burrowed.

 

“Hau, are you certain that you know they’re there?”

 

Hau opened his mouth to reply, prepared to give a matter-of-fact answer, but stopped. His evidence was very… lacking, since the photo was more or less old and crumpled, but he couldn’t deny it was a really good start. 

 

“Well… I don’t actually know.”

 

“You can’t just act on a whim, Hau.”

 

Hau felt his own face flush.

 

“I know, Tutu. But this person looked really worried for his friend. I just wanted to help.” 

 

And how could you penalize anyone for doing that? Tutu straightened his back and then gave Hau a stern look. Hau tensed. Whatever happened yesterday really seemed to have put him on edge. Hau wished he knew what happened to have made his usual tough-willed grandfather act like this. 

 

“You made me promise I wouldn’t leave anyone in danger. Or alone. Let me look? Please?”

 

His grandfather met Hau’s eyes, and once he saw how they were brimming with determination, he sighed. It was exasperated, or annoyed - it was out of relief, strangely enough. Hau was too excited because before his grandfather even began to open his mouth to say it was fine (as long as he stayed out of trouble) Hau ran forward and hugged him tightly. Tutu laughed, and returned the embrace.

 

“If Tapu Koko doesn’t make a Kahuna out of you, I’d be worried.”

 

Hearing those words lit Hau’s world up. It’s the only thing he want to do for his future and hearing his grandfather - who was the true Kahuna for now - say that to him meant everything.

 

“I’ll get going then! It’s a little bit of a walk from here!”

 

Hau turned around, but his grandfather stopped him.

 

“Hau, you haven’t even eaten yet. At least do that before you run off.”

 

Oh right.

 

Breakfast! He hoped there would be Malasada involved…

 

**.** **.** **.**

 

Mimikyu slept until early afternoon, waking up to see that you had bundled him up like a baby and tucked him into the sofa bed up above in the loft. Once he woke, you could hear him stirring. Kukui had left for his class for the day and said that it might be best if you stayed inside today, but if you really felt comfortable going out somewhere, just leave him a note so he could know where you were. It was comforting. Mimikyu approached the edge of the ladder, stepped back, and then leaped, landing safely on the couch. You give him a disapproving look, but he waddled over to you and then stood silently by your side. It didn’t seem like he was too happy about something, but it didn’t take you long to figure out what he might be mad about.

 

“Hey,” You called out to him, reaching down to pat his head. “It’s my fault, alright? I should have thought better about the Z-Move. It’s okay now though. Did you get enough sleep?”

 

Mimikyu made a noise like he was confirming your answer, so you smile and then scratch your head. You on the other hand still felt exhausted to the point some of your muscles ached, but after pacing around the house a bit after Kukui left, you felt a lot better. You take a deep breath and sigh, deciding it would be best to make Mimikyu a meal. You move toward the kitchen, and as if knowing what you were doing, he followed faithfully and waited as you opened the fridge. You prefer to give your Pokemon berries over regular Pokemon food anyway, so you would rather make him a fresh meal than -

 

“...Really.” You state quietly with a growl under your breath.

 

The fridge was empty. Mimikyu stole a look inside and made a similar displeased noise.

 

It’s a real dilemma because yesterday Mimikyu went quite a while without eating to the point he stole the food intended for you (which you never took a moment to scold him for) and you definitely weren’t going to let him be hungry today. With a sigh, you remembered where Kukui kept regular Pokemon food for his Rockruff and walked over to the cabinet, opening it curiously and finding the box inside. You shake it, satisfied to hear the pellets within.

 

“Sorry buddy,” You tell him as you grab a bowl. “There’s no berries. I’ll tell Kukui what kind of berries you like later. Will this do for now?”

 

Mimikyu’s response was a bit… well, lacking of enthusiasm, but he seemed excited for the food either way. You pour it into the bowl and walk over to the couch, where he followed. You sat the bowl down next to you on the couch as he hopped up there with you. You grabbed the remote and decide to turn on the TV, not so much interested in anything else you could do at the moment. You’d kill to pretend like you were in a normal situation right now and not a runaway from a group of thugs. 

 

Mimikyu would grab a piece and bring it under his costume, like he normally ate. You’ve never found it weird. But sometimes you are curious about what’s underneath that costume of his. You’ll never be curious enough to lift it and find out though. You’re not that dumb.

 

There’s a game show, a cooking show, a drama show, a mystery show…

 

You were never a big TV watcher anyway, so you settled on the news you manage to find. There’s casual reports about the hot weather, some surprising news about a strange color variation of a Pokemon called Stufful that was born from an egg, a brand of soda coming out with a new “hip and cool” flavor that seemed to be “the bomb” with every kid around Alola, but most important, what catches your attention above all is the news they report at the very end of the session.

 

“On Akala Island inside of the local supermarket near Royal Avenue, a local resident has been attacked by the ruthless and growing problem, Team Skull. No one knows if the person they attacked had any association with the gang originally, but according to witnesses, nothing transpired previously to prompt the attack. Reviewing the security camera footage set up around the area, the victim - while holding their Mimikyu - ran toward Hea’hea City, but has not been reported to be seen since. Police have been searching for evidence to find the grunts that were chasing the victim, but nothing has been found.”

 

There were a few blurry images that surfaced up on the screen of you, Mimikyu and the groceries you had been holding, but when the story ended, you sighed, and then quickly changed the channel to something a lot more interesting, like the cooking show. At least they weren’t pinning you be some sort of criminal. Yet, anyway. Mimikyu finished up the last of his food and then turned to look at you. He could sense how tense you were. He brushed up against your arm, and with a shaky sigh, you brush against his costume softly. With another deep breath you find yourself relaxing against the couch while Mimikyu climbed onto your lap.

 

“We’ve made a big mess, haven’t we?”

 

Mimikyu only looked at you, but you can feel his sympathy. He’s been with you this entire journey ever since you were a kid and got lost inside the abandoned super market on Ula’ula. He’s such a good Pokemon, and furthermore your best friend.

 

“You’ve certainly dealt with me though,” You go on to say. “But somehow you’re still my partner. Sometimes I really do think you hate me for not being able to give you a normal life.”

 

Mimikyu growled, but not threateningly. He was displeased. You smile and then pet his head gently.

 

You wonder if Kukui is giving a good lesson today.

**.** **.** **.**

“I-I don’t really think this is how class works, kiddos…”

 

“Tell us!”

 

Moon is sitting in her seat, feeling almost bad seeing Kukui in a similar situation that she was in merely a day before. Rotom is glancing all around the room with confusion, uncertain of where to look or what to do once again. Sophocles is behind his chair, Kiawe standing in front of him, Mallow guarding the door while Lana and Lillie stood in the back, whispering worried whispers to one another. 

 

“I-I think it’s best if we all sit down and discuss this calmly, yeah?”

 

No one moved. Moon could see the sweat starting to bead in his forehead, glistening in the sunlight streaming in from the outside. With the shake of her head, Moon eventually stood from her seat and crossed her arms. This wasn’t right for them to demand answers out of him. She got that they all cared immensely about him, but this was taking it a little too far. She thought out of all of them Kiawe might have understood the most, since he seemed to be the most level headed here, but instead of pressing on the idea, she couldn’t sit by and watch them go about this all wrong.

 

“Guys! Just sit down! Leave him alone.”

 

“You know what’s going on, but we gotta know too!” Sophocles shouted back, crossing his arms. 

 

Moon felt her eyebrow twitched.

 

“We’re all, like, 12! We can’t just screw around in adult business!”

 

“You did, though!” Sophocles replied, sending a glare your way.   
  


Moon’s eye twitched now. Rotom hovered a few inches from her face, cutting off her view from Sophocles, trying to say something like it was best if they just sat down and let it all be, but no. Moon couldn’t just let these brats her age treat a man way older than them like he had to give himself away little by little! She didn’t mean to intrude on anything dealing with that person, but it happened anyway. Messily. Trying to get them to stay at her house and in the end that got away.

 

“Listen here, you little _freak show_ \- !” Moon raised her voice, clenching her fists now. Sophocles came out from behind Kukui and approached her desk, slamming his hands down on top of the wood.

 

“Who are you callin’ a freak show?!”

 

Moon was about to yank him across the table and slap him into another world, but - 

 

“Alola!”

 

The door to the classroom swung open abruptly, and a boy with dark tan skin and messy fluffy hair pulled back into a ponytail came rushing in. He was out of breath, a rosy, healthy color dusting his cheeks. Sending a stern look to Kiawe, Kukui stood from his chair, likely happy he’d finally gotten out of the interrogation. 

 

The boy waved to him.

 

“Professor Kukui!”

 

Kukui smiled.

 

“Hau! Your grandfather didn’t tell me you were coming today. Say, kids, break time is over. Get back in your  _ seats _ , yeah?”

 

The emphasis on “seats” made them all get moving once accompanied by the scariest look they’d ever seen from Kukui. It looked nearly unnatural on him, with the way his eyes narrowed and smile twitched. Even Moon straightened up a bit, sitting up in her seat nicely and laid her hands down onto her lap. Rotom came to rest on her desk, screen blank. It wasn’t smiling like it usually was. Even Rotom felt the need to clean up its own act and it wasn’t even apart of the previous interrogation. Moon thought they had cleared everything up yesterday but apparently they were entitled to know what was going on.

 

Once everyone was back in their seats, stone-faced and flustered with shame from nearly being embarrassed by a teacher, Kukui cleared his throat. His usual, cheery demeanor had returned, and he gave the class a wide smile. No one relaxed. Class wasn’t going as smoothly as it could these past few days. 

 

“Kiddos, this is Hau. He’s the grandson of Kahuna Hala.”

 

“Alola, everyone!” Hau greeted with a big smile. Moon couldn’t help but notice how he seemed to brighten up the room with his smile despite the fact it had been so tense before. She swore she could see a ray of sunshine beam from him. Just seeing how innocent a person could be almost made her feel horrible for snapping at Sophocles like that, making her face flush softly at the memory that only happened seconds ago. She should really apologize. Maybe after school she would.

 

“So,” Hau began, catching everyone’s attention. “Is… this everyone? In your class?”

 

Kukui nodded. “Why do ya ask?”

 

Hau glanced around, puffing out his cheeks in disappointment. 

 

“Hm. I met someone on Akala Island yesterday that was looking for his friend. The picture he showed me looked like they went to this school. It was a class photo.”

 

No one seemed to understand Hau at first. They all gave each other glances because - who else would be in this class that wasn’t here? It was a smaller class, definitely, so there would be no mistaking if someone wasn’t here today.  

 

And then it seemed to hit them all at the same time, the collective thought blooming across their expressions in a wave of disbelief. Their faces all said it - it can’t be true, this isn’t real, it can’t possibly be them can it? - and they tensed. Even Moon felt anxiety ridden, and she still had little to no idea what was going on at the moment. Her breath caught in her throat, and her fingers curled into her shirt. If she gripped it any tighter, her nails might cut through the pastel floral soft fabric. Kukui’s expression fell slightly, but he quickly came back to reality, deciding to keep that initial shock away from the present. If he went uneasy along with everyone else, then something would look like it’s wrong.

 

“I think I know who you’re talkin’ about. They’re sick today. They’re staying with me right now, actually. Tell you what: school is almost over, so when the bell rings you can walk back with me and talk to them. I think it’ll clear up some things with their friend.”

 

“Professor Kukui - “ Mallow started, her eyes wide, before she fell silent. None of them knew what to say. They all knew what that meant. Moon kept her head low, and Rotom moved closer to her curiously. It had a distressed emoji on its screen. In the end, Moon knew they couldn’t have kept this a secret forever, but this isn’t how she thought it would happen. Hau looked around, suddenly weary of all the tense and unsure looks on all of the student’s faces before he shrugged.

 

“Yeah, that’s cool with me! I just gotta be home for dinner. Tutu doesn’t like me staying out late nowadays with all the Team Skull stuff lately. Man, did you see the story on the news about how someone was attacked by Team Skull at the supermarket this morning? That was bad! I wish I could have been there to help them.”

 

Kukui laughed softly, ruffling the top of Hau’s hair. He just seemed like a thin, excited boy prepared to do anything for the sake of other people. People could be cute sometimes. 

 

“You’re gonna be a great Kahuna one day, Hau. There’s a seat next to Moon there - “ he pointed to her, “ - so why not sit and make friends with everyone here?”

 

Hau nodded. Moon wondered if he needed school at all since he had his grandfather. Probably not. Home schooled then. Hau looked… well, like that would be accurate. Who wouldn’t be happy and jolly being the grandchild of any Kahuna?

 

Hau skipped over to Moon, sitting in the open seat next to her. Mallow and Lillie were whispering something to each other. Lillie was fairly new to the school as well, so she might have no idea what’s going on either. She only got here just before Moon by a month or so. She wondered if they bothered to tell her what was going on with this person, seeing as no one wanted to be so uncomfortable at the mention of them.

 

“So,” Kiawe called out to Kukui. “What are they out with? The flu?”

 

Not the place, not the time. Not another interrogation. Answers would come later on. Kukui sent him a hard stare, but somehow kept friendliness present on his expression. They’re seriously pushing his buttons right now. Moon tensed up again as Hau turned to her and smiled.

 

“Alola! I’m Hau. You’re Moon? That’s a cool name! How’d ya get the name?”

 

And this kid wasn’t helping the situation. Moon shot him a side glare, but she couldn’t add to the tense atmosphere at the moment. With a deep breath, she nodded.

 

“I guess my mom just likes stuff relating to the sky. I don’t know.”

 

It was meant to write him off, to keep him occupied with the idea that Moon was a bitter little girl, but instead of accepting the answer as vague and pointless, Hau smiled and nodded. 

 

“Oh wow, I like the sky too! Alola has a pretty sky. It’s pretty to watch the sunset at the beach.”

 

“I know. I live near the beach.”

 

“Whoa, really?! I do too!”

 

And anything could be considered a conversation to the sheltered child. Moon did her best to look uninterested, but he kept pressing on, kept forcing himself into that bubble she felt like she didn’t need to share with every single person she met. Kukui was sitting at his desk, having taken off his glasses for a brief moment to rub at his eyes and adjust his cap. He looked stressed. Was that person staying at his house giving him a hard time? Were they more trouble then what they looked like?

 

“D-D-D-D-Don’t do that please, zzt!”

 

Moon glanced back over to Hau, and immediately noticed the lack of Rotom on her desk. Turning her head side to side, she saw Hau had taken Rotom into his hands, lifting it in the air and snapping a few photos with the camera feature. Rotom just liked to have control of itself, uncomfortable even with Moon scrolling through some of the pictures it took sometimes. It’s a touchy thing, and Moon didn’t mind since she had her own issues of personal space, but this kid was already taking it too far.

 

“What are you doing with my Poke Dex?” She asked, reaching over to snatch Rotom away. Hau got a slightly bashful look on his face as she set Rotom down, letting it getting back on balance again by itself. Rotom put its makeshift hands on its little body and made a displeased buzzing noise.

 

“That’s a Poke Dex? That’s cool!”

 

“Yeah, it also has a Rotom in it. It doesn’t like to be picked up.”

 

Hau rubbed at the back of his head. His hair looked so fluffy, even while being put up in that ponytail. 

 

“Gee, Rotom. Sorry. I didn’t know!”

 

Rotom continued to glare at the kid before it gave a soft sigh.

 

“It’zzz fine. I like to take picturezzz though! Everything izzz pretty, and I can keep it forever in this body!”

 

Hau’s previous shame melted away in an instant, and he brightened up the room once more with the smile that looked too closely like the ray of sunshine she saw before. The personification of the sun itself. Even if he was kind of dumb, he was adorable as he was. It kind of made it hard to stay mad at him as Rotom and Hau engaged in a conversation, the previous offense forgotten. Furiously behind them, the rest of the students were whispering to one another. Lillie looked almost confused, glancing between them all back and forth, and a frequent confused “what?” coming from her every so often.

 

Moon heard her name more than once. This was ridiculous. It’s been two days of things like this and it was the dumbest thing she’d ever had to endure. She almost felt like speaking up, but fell silent instead. 

 

In the distance, the big bell rang. No one made a move to leave but Hau and Kukui. Kukui turned and gave them all confused looks, and with a sigh, he gave them a promising look.

 

“Hey, I think they’ll be better by tomorrow. Just remember to play nice once they’re back.”

 

They didn’t say anything. That’s when Moon stood and grabbed her own bag. Popplio hadn’t even come out for a long while today, having only eaten and then returned to the ball. She didn’t want her Popplio apart of this mess. In fact, no one had their Pokemon now. Not even faithful little Bounsweet who typically perched itself on Mallow’s shoulder. 

 

Moon avoided their stares as she encouraged Rotom to follow. Kukui was already outside with Hau, and Moon had a sneaking suspicion that she would be walking home alone today.

 

“So that was it? An old friend of ours is back? You couldn’t tell us that?” Kiawe called out to her. For some reason, Moon felt frustrated.

 

“Kukui told me not to.”

 

Mallow suddenly cut in. Her voice was tainted with just as much stress as Moon’s was.

 

“He’s helping them. He’s seriously letting them stay with him? What about everything they’ve done?”

 

Sophocles snorted. “For all we know, they’re forcing their way in there!”

 

“We don’t know that for sure…” Lana threw in. She was always so gentle, but even her own face gave away that she was thinking the same thing. And _believed_ it, on top of that. 

 

Moon’s bag found its way to the floor. It thumped loudly, and she felt her fist clench by itself. Rotom cringed. It knew what was coming. Moon turned around with a loud whoosh, raising her voice so loudly she feared Kukui might be able to hear her from outside.

 

“How about you all mind your own business?! You don’t know what happened to them!”

 

Kiawe slammed his hands down on his desk and stood as well.

 

“You don’t know what happened either!”

 

“Oh yeah? I don’t? Tell me then since it immediately makes them think they broke into Kukui’s house and is forcing him to let them stay there!”

 

She could see Sophocles eyebrow twitch from where she stood. But unlike before, he took a deep breath before relaxing. The room was eerily silent. Moon didn’t move, didn’t bother to pick up her bag. She was tempted to just snatch Rotom and leave. It was pointless. She felt like she was about to cry, with pressure building up behind her eyes. She thought she had some genuine friends, but she smashed that today. Of course. 

 

She’s the _new girl_ anyway. No one wanted to befriend the new girl.

 

“They’re in Team Skull.”

 

Lana’s voice was so soft that almost no one understood her. Moon had to rethink what she said a few times before she understood, and her shoulders dropped slightly. Thinking about the way they all felt unresolved tense when it came to this person suddenly started to make sense, and the ends all started to connected with one another in an instant. Tiny pieces of the things she heard that were broken up and scattered among different conversations over the past two days finally met with one another, the end result acting as glue. The gaps to her confusion will filled. Lillie had the same expression as her, unlike everyone else, whose gaze moved to the floor in that moment.

 

“Oh.” Moon finally said softly, and Rotom came forward, gently pushing its hand to her back in an attempt to console her.

 

Moon reached down and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder once more. Her face was hot and flushed.

 

“Sorry.” Moon mumbled, turning around abruptly. No one attempted to stop her. 

 

“Moon - !”

 

Rotom followed after her hurriedly, not bothering to have stayed and tried to clean up some of the mess Moon just made with her friends. If they even were her friends anymore.

 

Moon didn’t see Kukui outside. He must have already started walking with Hau. It was fine with her, because she really wanted to be alone right now. Even Rotom’s usual blinking wide stare began to irritate her. She didn’t really care to look where she was going, only looking at the ground to recognize the familiar path. She was probably going to lose the argument, but she was going to beg her mother to let her not go to school tomorrow. She couldn’t see any of them after today, and of course eventually she would have to go back, but at the moment, it couldn’t happen. It would be too much.

 

Team Skull. They were really apart of Team Skull? It seemed kind of ridiculous. Clutching groceries to their chest with a dazed expression…

 

Was it all a ploy? To get into Kukui’s house? No, she doubted that. If they wanted to get into Kukui’s house, they would have demanded to stay there in the first place, and they had no interjection when Moon asked for them to stay at her house. But god, she wished she wasn’t so nosy. That way she wouldn’t be in this situation. Would she? It felt kind of ridiculous to think whether or not she got too curious would have changed the outcome any differently, but they were the ones who got on a boat to Melemele… But she’s also the one to have pulled them inside of her home. Maybe if she didn’t just do that…

 

“Zzt! Your stress levelzzz are rising! Attempt to relax or else you’ll be at risk for collapsing.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

Moon brushed past Rotom, who’d floated in front of her, as if to prevent her from continuing to keep walking. Rotom allowed a frown emoji to appear on its screen for a brief moment, just as Moon reached her front door. She grabbed the handle and threw it open, shutting it behind her and going straight to her room and threw the door open as well, slamming it as loud as she could. Her mom wasn’t home yet so she couldn’t fuss at her for it. 

 

Moon threw herself down onto her bed face down, without even taking her shoes off. She sighed loudly into the pillows, grabbing one and putting it over her head. She couldn’t tell if she was upset or mad or even sad, because all of it was pent up frustration at the moment.

 

A light pressure landed on top of the pillow, and seconds later, a bright screen filled the darkness between her and the outside.

 

“Leave me alone, Rotom.”

 

“Zzt. I don’t mean to bother you, but I’m worried.”

 

“Don’t then.”

 

“Zzt? Don’t worry about you? I don’t comprehend your logic.”

 

Moon lifted the pillow off of her head, effectively making Rotom stumble back slightly before regaining its balance. 

 

“I’m not asking you to comprehend anything. Just leave me alone.”

 

“Wouldn’t it be bad to leave you in this state? From my understanding, it’zzz best to help someone when they are sad.”

 

Moon wanted to scream her frustration out, but she dropped her face down into the pillows again, sighing loudly, almost aggressively. Close enough to a scream. Rotom frowned again, and then moved forward enough to sit by her head. Moon wanted to push the thing away from her, give her space back so she and her sanity could recover from today, but when it started talking, Moon was  a bit shocked to hear how serious it sounded.

 

“I know thingzzz don’t particularly look so good for you and your friendzzz, but it’zzz nothing worth losing them over. You didn’t understand.”

 

Moon groaned. “They all looked pretty mad at me before I left.”

 

“Mm. I don’t think that’zzz quite it. I think they were more shocked at your outburzzzt than they were with what was said. It wazzz about time they told you what wazzz going on, anyway.”

 

Moon lifted her face from her pillow slightly, staring at Rotom with a frustrated look.

 

“This is so stupid. They shouldn’t have forced Kukui to say what he didn’t want to.”

 

“Agreed. There is no justified reazzzon for them to have demanded an explanation out of him, but what hazzz happened hazzz happened. We all know what’s going on now. Professor Kukui will handle it from here. I don’t think that person hazzz any bad intentionzzz or anything. In time, thizzz will be over.”

 

Moon’s eyebrows shot up in mild surprise. Rotom had been helpful in the past when she’d been upset, but this was the best kind of advice Rotom had given since they’d met. Moon sat up slowly, pulling her knees to her chest, and before she could lose it, a tear slipped out of the corner of her eye, forced out of sheer need of relief. Rotom came to rest at the top of her knees, its usual smile returning to its screen. Rotom reached out and gently patted her forehead.

 

“It’ll blow over soon.”  

 

It was trying to sound reassuring, and strangely enough Moon believed it. Looking down at the bed below her, she reached down and undid her shoes, jostling Rotom, who hopped off and allowed her to toss them across the room. She then laid on her back, thinking about getting a snack, but instead just decided to lay there.

 

She hoped Rotom was right. She didn’t want to lose her friends over this.

 

**.** **.** **.**

You were surprised when you heard the door click open. Mimikyu was busy on the floor, he and Rockruff busy tearing at some toys they’d found. You’d kept the cooking channel on, dying for a good expensive meal right about now. Though you probably weren’t going to be able to go just about anywhere for a while, which was a downer to think about. Kukui’s house is nice, and for a little bit you stood by the grand tank in the home, watching as the Corsola and Luvdisc play together. You wondered how Kukui fed them and kept them happy. They looked extremely content in the tank, and perhaps it was because of the lack of predators. 

 

You wondered if you could ever be in a position like that too. To be somewhere happy that kept you hidden from everything you were afraid of. A place like that would be paradise. You thought maybe that place was with Gladion in that little motel, but now that everything has happened, is it truly still like that?

 

“I’m back!” Kukui called out. You snapped out of your daze, looking toward the door.

  
He's got sweat beading on his forehead and he looks jostled, almost dazed. He's putting his stuff down when there are additional footsteps in the distance. The last thing you expected though is for someone to come bounding in behind him, all full of bright personality just by first glance. It was still mid afternoon, so Kukui’s house was still lit by the powerful Alola sun. Yet, he somehow made it better, more visible. 

 

Before you could even get a question out, he’d grabbed you by your hand, shaking it wildly.

 

“I’m Hau! I met your friend yesterday! He’s looking for you on Akala Island!”

 

You were taken back by those rushed out words. Processing all the information that came at you at once, you could see Kukui smile in the background as he put his stuff down. He looked stressed though. You could only wonder what happened to him, but he couldn’t have his attention stuck on him for long, because this Hau boy demanded as much of it as he could take.

 

“So! You should probably go see him now, cause he’s super worried!”

 

“Ah, ah. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

 

Kukui finally cut in, coming to sit on the couch. Hau looked at him, wide-eyed and confused, as innocent as a flower could come, but Kukui merely patted the cushions next to him, gesturing for him to take a seat. Hau released your hand slowly, and the second he did, Mimikyu came up beside you on the couch, having lost interest in his toy. He came to sit on your lap, and closely looked at Hau. Mimikyu was getting a little too overprotective again, but you’ve heard it’s natural behavior to Mimikyu who have become attached to their trainers. You don’t truly ever make an effort to reprimand him for it.

 

“What’s up?” Hau asked once he sat. Kukui sighed.

 

“It’s a bit of a complicated situation. See, my student here ain’t exactly safe on Akala Island at the moment. Or much of anywhere. The safest place for them is here.”

 

Hau nodded, expression dipped in wonder. There really is no shocking news for him, is there?

 

“Okay. Um. I guess it’s kinda personal, so I won’t - whoa, no way!”

 

And suddenly Hau was leaning closer again, having just looked you again since Mimikyu had crawled onto your lap. You feel a little too closely inspected under his excited gaze.

 

“You’re the person who was attacked on Akala Island by Team Skull! Is that why you ran away?”

 

You swallow harshly.

 

“Well, yes.”

 

“Oh! But your friend had a picture of you in a school photo! Why aren’t you in school anymore?”

 

You tense up. 

 

“Um…”

 

Kukui once again interfered, especially when he saw the discomfort on your face again. This man was so, so intent on protecting you and it almost made you feel guilty. Hau stopped once more, and you bit on your lip, holding back the building up mess that was always lingering a little bit too closely to the front of your mind. 

 

“Listen,” You tell him, gently lifting Mimikyu off of your lap so you could stand. “Do you really want to do me a favor right now?”

 

Hau nodded. You felt almost grateful.

 

“Go back to him - my friend. Gladion. Tell him these words exactly.”

 

Hau was listening intently to what you had to say. He was too excited and all too prepared to help.

 

“I’m sorry for disappearing. I didn’t mean to, and I never intended to leave him. I’ll be back as soon as possible when everything is okay.”

 

Hau seemed to mull over these words before he smiled, jumping up on the couch, nearly bumping into you in the process. Kukui barely seemed to grasp at how ready this Hau boy was for anything. You’ve barely met him only five minutes ago and in that five minutes he’s already managed to make your entire day. That is only because he could communicate with Gladion for you. Hau clapped his hands together and then looked at the ticking clock on the wall. 

 

“Oh! I should get back to Tutu now!”

 

“You shouldn’t keep’a Kahuna waitin’ for ya. Hurry along. Nice to see ya though, Hau! Give your grandfather my regards.”

 

Hau smiled, wide and bright and full of sunshine before he turned toward the door and began to walk toward it hurriedly.

 

“Oh, don’t worry, by the way!” Hau called out to you. “I’ll get the message to him as soon as possible!”

 

You would really prefer if he hopped on a Charizard now and flew over there, but something told you that wouldn’t happen. You gave him a grateful nod, and as he opened the door, you felt a shiver roll down your spine for some reason. Mimikyu has been settled on the couch where you’d plopped him down merely a minute ago, though Kukui noticed immediately how your expression just seemed to shift to upset.

 

“Somethin’ wrong?” He asked. 

 

God, how you hated being asked that. A tear squeezed past your eye, and for some reason you can’t stop the flow of tears. Just like before, Kukui is at your side.

 

“What’s wrong?” He asked again. He seemed so stressed today that you didn’t want to bother him with it.

 

“I - guess I’m just emotional, is all.” You say. Kukui gently patted your back as Mimikyu once again found his way onto your lap. He rubbed up against you affectionately, comfortingly.

 

“It’s all okay. He’s gonna get that message to your pal, I’m sure of it. Hala’s too good of a Kahuna to not let his grandson do something nice.”

 

You wanted to believe that, but there’s something that settled under your skin that feared much more different than what he was saying. 

 

Your fear being Hau would deliver the message, and Gladion would have nothing to say back.

 

**.** **.** **.**

The rapid knocking came on Gladion’s door came quicker than he was expecting. He knew somehow though that it wouldn’t have been you, and when he opened the door he felt more than disappointed to see the boy from the previous night back. Conveniently around the same time as well. It was almost night time, and the boy - Hau, right? - looked flushed in the face as he gave Gladion a big smile. It was annoying to look at. There was nothing positive about this situation, but he supposed someone like this could barely understand what truly was going on under all these lies.

 

“I met up with them today,” Hau said before Gladion could get anything out. “They’re okay! So don’t worry. Also, they wanted me tell you that they’re sorry, they didn’t mean to disappear all of the sudden, and that they’ll see you when everything is okay.”

 

It’s a rush of information, and Gladion isn’t sure what to feel. He crossed his arms, and then nodded.

 

“So you met with them.”

  
“Er. Well. Yeah, I just said that.”

 

“You know where they are now?”

 

Hau nodded.

 

Gladion turned around and grabbed a handful of things - his wallet, both key cards - and then back to Hau.

 

“Good. Take me there. We leave now.”

 

It was bad for Hau, because…

  
Well. Tutu didn’t exactly know Hau took a detour before coming home today. He’s definitely already late for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow i disappeared for a spell. everything is good now tho lol. i was so stressed out recently so yeah. here it is. more content.
> 
> also here comes gladion.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kukui drops the big surprise on you - you're going back to school! Great! You love being singled out and stared at! Some pancakes are eaten, and Moon has an awful encounter with someone.
> 
> Oh. And Gladion's finally here.

_ “Knew I’d make a good decision the moment I saw ya.” _

 

_ You kept your spine straight, unlike the rest of the grunts who’d successfully executed the mission with you. You felt misplaced here, among the group of thugs who’d smashed their trial charm out of frustration and ran off to join Team Skull for comfort. You didn’t fail your trials, but you were as lost as a person your age could be. It was such a pointless thing to be so upset over, but you were only doing it to please them in the end. You did a lot of what you did to please your parents, but you wondered if this act of rebellion had them regretting everything now. You felt stupid standing here, but as tall as he stood, Guzma still clutched your shoulder, despite where you came from and how you ended up here, and praised you as if you were any other person here. You felt appreciated. _

 

_ “Thanks.” You mumble out, turning your eyes toward the floor in a moment of bashfulness. The trembling stolen Pokemon lay by his shoes, too scared to lash out at any of you. The gleam in it’s eyes made you feel considerably worse, but you kept it out of your expression. You couldn’t bring yourself to act like you regretted any of it, because it would risk Guzma being disappointed in you. And you didn’t want that.  _

 

_ You wanted that same affection he’d given you for a while now all to yourself, forever... _

 

**.** **.** **.**

You woke once more. There was light and noise coming from down below, just like yesterday morning. Your body was tense and when you sat up, you didn’t realize Mimikyu had wormed his way into a comfortable crook on your body, having been so sleepy the night before you ended up tucking him in before you went to bed yourself. 

 

You ended up staying up a little later with Kukui last night. Like he did before, he offered a listening ear and open arms for comfort. You talked a little more about your feelings toward Team Skull, and some about how you regret the majority of what you did. It was, after all, out of pure spite you’d done any of it. You guessed because you’re young you had to cake any decision you made in a fine layer of edgy-aesthetics and sad determination. It’s awful to reduce your own feelings to something as ridiculously stereotypical as that, but whatever. You’ll live up to another name one day, you suppose.

 

Besides, you thought you were making a good choice for yourself, but in the end you’d landed yourself in a considerably worse situation. 

 

Mimikyu stirred, and then wiggled upward until he was standing, waddling his way over toward you to lean on you. You stroke his cheek softly and then take a deep breath.

 

It’s a lot better here than it was at the motel, you would admit. You have your own space and your own bed to sleep on. It wasn’t horrible sleeping with Gladion, but he held you tightly at night to reassure you he would protect you, but now that you think about it, you almost feel like you’d been using him. The unresolved guilt bubbled in your chest, and you scooped Mimikyu up into your arms, making your way over to the ladder and carefully climbing down. Once down, you set him on the floor, and he made his own way into the kitchen.

 

“Mornin’!” Kukui called out, stretching his arms upward.

 

“Ya feel like goin’ out anywhere? Cause I haven’t grocery shopped yet and I don’t feel like cookin’ anyway.”

 

Going… out? Isn’t it risky? Your face was all over the news recently, and your face will be all over the pavement if a Team Skull grunt managed to get their hands on you. The idea of it all just made you feel like you were never safe outside of these walls ever again. You tense up, but Kukui reached over and squeezed your shoulder reassuringly. 

 

“It’ll be fine. Trust me. I’m with ya, so if anyone decides to come at ya, I’ll get ‘em.”

 

That pang of guilt resting in your chest grew more painful when he said that. Instead of letting you dwell about it, Kukui snapped his fingers and then turned around, grabbing a bag on the counter you hadn’t noticed was there before.

 

“Besides, ya gotta start the day before school with a nice breakfast, right? Here. Moon loaned you some clothes. Thought you might be sick of wearin’ the same thing over and over again. She said she didn’t mind.”

 

He’s handing you the bag but it nearly slips out of your fingers. You can feel your own face flush, hot and embarrassed.

 

“Wait… school? Kukui, I can’t go to school.”

 

He managed to catch the bag before it fell to the floor completely. Through the thin plastic of the grocery bag you could barely see the faint floral patterns print on pastel shirts, along with some shorts and pants. It was kind of her, really, but that girl still kind of creeped you out. God, don’t get you started on that Rotom thing. You’d kill to know what it’s supposed to be. You don’t think you’ve ever seen a Rotom look quite like that before. 

 

“I promise ya it’ll be better than what you’re anticipating.”

 

He was trying to be reassuring but even his own usual cheerful demeanor failed to comfort you. It’s the usual warm personality, but it had a tinge of cold to it when you began to think about walking into that building. For all you knew, you’d be as uncomfortable as you would be an outcast. They wouldn’t accept you ever again. You know they’re not going to hurt you - right? - because they’re too good of kids to do something like that, but there’s something that weighed down heavily on your heart about the thought.

 

It had to be shame.

 

“Nothin’ is gonna happen. Now c’mon, get dressed. We’re gonna be late for school if we don’t stop and eat breakfast now.”

 

It is quite a bit earlier before school started, so you find yourself wandering back toward the ladder, electric anxiety waves stuck onto your skin. You pulled out the clothes Moon gave you and switched into the comfiest looking outfit. If Kukui was good to you as he had been this entire time, maybe hopefully he’ll make sure not to draw major attention to you. Maybe pat you on the back and say to welcome you back, but you’re still not even prepared for that. Hell, you should have been prepared for anything when you went out to the supermarket a few days ago.

 

You’re dressed in shorts that are kind of loose on you and a shirt that’s too floral for your taste, but you take it anyway. Mimikyu is watching you with mild interest. You couldn’t help but take note that for some reason he’s just as equally anxious as you are. With a deep breath, you approach him after straightening out your outfit and give him a soft stroke across one of his cheeks. You lift him gently into your arms and walk down the ladder again.

 

Kukui has changed, but there’s nothing new about what he’s wearing. No shirt, a lab coat, and sweat pants. It’s a wonder how this man made himself known across Alola as a serious professor. 

 

“Ready? I got you a temporary school bag. Y’know, until we can find one you like.”

 

He gives you a plain gray bag that’s more or less disappointing. You sling it over your shoulder anyway, beginning to walk out with him, but you pause. 

 

“Kukui…”

 

He turned toward you again. Your shoulders are tense, and Mimikyu is wriggling slightly to get more comfortable.

 

“What… What about my parents? Do they know I’m here?”

 

There’s a pause, and the air is filled with brief tension before Kukui reached over and patted your shoulder again.

 

“Don’t worry about that. That’s something I’ll let you handle on your own. Unless you want me to say you’re here with me?”

 

Your heart skipped a beat painfully. “No. Please don’t.”

 

You sound abruptly desperate, but he seemed to understand. There’s always been a fatherly aspect to him, which is the one thing you guess you’re kind of searching for blindly in a time like this. Maybe Kukui is a father figure to you. You’re not entirely sure, since your father has never truly been a major part of your life. He’s your backbone when you’re weak, there to offer a shoulder when you need it most. You wondered if maybe you tried a little harder if you could ever have gotten that same treatment from your father. It was the entire point of you leaving to complete the trials, after all. 

 

You wait for Kukui to say something, like a confirmation that he understood, but it’s almost as if you didn’t need to hear it from him. He placed a hand on your back and nudged forward. He’s as positive as ever, you notice, even as you take note of the slight dark circles underneath his eyes. It dulls the lights there, and the exhaustion passed over to you, forcing an involuntary sigh out of your mouth.

 

Kukui smiled. 

 

“There’s this place that serves amazing pancakes. I think you’ll like it. Plus, I need a cup of coffee.”

 

 **.** **.** **.**

“Zzt. You’ll be late, y’know!”

 

Moon felt her eyebrow twitch in irritation as she hurriedly ran the brush through her dark tangled hair, still messy from tossing and turning all night. 

 

Rotom’s constant pestering didn’t encourage her to go any faster. If anything, it made her drag her feet as she tossed the brush aside to walk across the room to grab her bag. The brush landed on the floor with a loud thud, which only pushed against the irritation at the front of her skull. She’d been sort of up late last night, having talked with Rotom more about her feelings toward the situation that happened in earlier hours of the day. Rotom, despite being the love-induced Dex that it is, actually gave some decently solid advice about the situation. 

 

If there was one thing she took away from it, it was that she couldn’t latch onto the negativity forever. Things would blow over as soon as they all sat down - with Kukui and that other person - and talked it out. It seemed impossible to Moon though. Maybe she was exaggerating, but no one wanted to accept someone back into their lives that had joined up with a gang of thugs and ruined practically whatever they could get their hands on in the region. 

 

It was, simply, cringe worthy to think about. 

 

“It’s not like we’re in a hurry.” Moon growled out at Rotom, almost sounding like a snarl by the way she spoke. They were almost dripping with venom. 

 

The small device cut off its speakers, as if shocked by her aggression, Moon felt her shoulders sink and she sighed, slinging her bag up onto her shoulder and turned to give it an apologetic look. She’s too stressed to deal with anything going on this morning. It feels as if the world was trying to drag her down, and not even a cup of her mom’s sugar-ridden coffee could drive away.

 

Exhaustion. Jeez, she’s only 12. She’s too young to say she’s stressed out. She wished she never cared about those photos in the first place. 

 

“Hate it here.” Moon suddenly said. Rotom casted her an odd look.

 

“Hate it… where, zzt?”

 

Moon gripped the strap of her bag tighter in her hand. She was still in a bad mood, she supposed.

 

“Just forget about it. Let’s go. We’re gonna be late. I guess Kukui isn’t gonna walk us today either.”

 

Rotom chose not to reply, as if too unsure of what else to say to get Moon back into that somewhat cheery state she’d been in a few days prior. Moon was sure she’d get over it sometime soon, but it wasn’t sometime soon yet, so whoever ran into her would be stuck with it for the next few days. Or at least until things blew over, all that left being awkward remnants of memories they’d all try and bury away. 

 

“Have a good day,” Moon’s mom called after as she walked out the door. Moon gave her a brief wave, not even bothering to call back as she slipped outside. Like the day before when she was walking home, she hadn’t bothered to look where she was going. Stepping out of the way of strangers, giving a lazy hand raise in reply to the greetings to the people who shouted at her. Rotom hovered along silently, and Popplio shook slightly in his Poke Ball. She’ll let him out since he didn’t get out much the day prior. She’s in a bad mood as it was but she shouldn’t take it out on her Pokemon, if anything.

 

“Watch out!”

 

Moon was so buried in her thoughts she barely had time to process before a body slammed into hers, and a second party joined only moments later. She crashed to the ground, and Rotom made more than a few glitch-like noises before it went silent. 

 

Moon opened her eyes, confused, but her vision was blocked out by a black bandana.

 

Her heart sank.

 

God, she  _ hated  _ Alola.

**.** **.** **.**

 

It wasn’t a long walk from Kukui’s house to this pancake place. The walls are painted bright colors with interesting swirled designs on each wall, and a cute girl with her Raichu bring you some fresh, hot pancakes only minutes later after you order.

 

There’s a stack of golden pancakes in front of you, topped with a litany of different kinds of fresh berries and whipped cream, a sprinkle of powdered sugar dusting the very perfectly formed swirled peak. It looks delicious, but all you can see in the reflection of the pristine white plate beneath it all is the price of the breakfast mocking you in all of its sweet glory. It’s going to make you nauseous, you’ll bet, but Kukui already pulled out his wallet and paid for the food so you supposed you simply couldn’t let it all go to waste.

 

Well. And the fact Mimikyu wasn’t going to let it go to waste either. 

 

Kukui is already well into the stack of pancakes, having dug in the moment the plate was set down in front of him. Oran and Pecha berries decorated his stack, a nice red glaze zig-zagging over the top of the mountain of whipped cream. He ordered extra. Rockruff panted excitedly next to to him as Kukui slipped him a bite. You were ogling yours as if it were going to grow arms and legs and walk right away from you. 

 

Kukui smiled.

 

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

 

...You might as well? While you’re here, at least. There’s something about this that feels inherently wrong about it though, as you grab your fork and stab it into the top. Mimikyu is, more or less, excited about your decision to finally start eating. 

 

You bit into it, and the sweetest flavors burst in your mouth. There’s sugar, berries, the whipped cream - it all added up into an explosion of what tasted like tangy sweet bliss. It’s delicious, forcing you to briefly crack a smile, but instead of taking it back, you offer the next to piece to your awaiting partner, who happily chowed down on it only a second later. If you share this breakfast, then surely the both of you could finish this monster of a breakfast. It looked like a lot at first glance, but now that you’ve bitten into it, there’s less, and it’s much less intimidating.

 

“Today’s gonna be a simple sit-and-study day if it helps.” Kukui suddenly says.

 

You feel your shoulders drop at the mention of going back to school. You’re just offering another bite of pancakes to Mimikyu as you reply.

 

“You mean sit-and-stare day, right?”

 

Kukui didn’t even laugh.

 

“C’mon now. Why do ya think this is gonna be so bad?”

 

You set the fork down on the table after Mimikyu is done eating.

 

“It’s not like I’ve exactly been the greatest person.”

 

“I think it’s gonna be much more different than you’re expecting.”

 

He finished off his pancakes with a proud sigh. He practically shared the entire thing with Rockruff. You make an effort to feed more to Mimikyu, who happily ate up.You’re giving more to him than you are yourself but you’re fine with that, you think, as you eat a little more. It’s when you get to the very bottom of the stack that you truly start struggling with it. Kukui is smoothing out Rockruff’s fur by the time you get done eating, and you take a deep breath, trying to let the food settle. You feel bad he would pay for a meal this… well, extravagant like that, but you’re beginning to learn to not question it anymore. It’s his decision to do what he wanted. Kukui would do whatever he felt like and if taking care of you was his top priority, then who were you to try and deny you?

 

You went through a brief period like this as well with Gladion, when you first started staying at the motel. Or. Well. You never truly broke out of that kind of mode. You denied food unless it was for your partner or if it was for him. You did your best to take care of him despite the fact he was obviously intent on taking care of you. 

 

Everybody just wanted to baby you apparently. God, what were you, three years old? You lived through a rough-and-tough gang who’s on the top most wanted list in this region. You think you’ll be fine without all this extra hand-holding.

 

...Kind of. Maybe when you’re in a better emotional state you can say that. Clinging onto Kukui’s side and crying into his shoulder wasn’t exactly what you would call _tough_. Maybe the unnecessary hand-holding, for now, was okay.

 

In the distance, you think you hear something weird, like the siren of an ambulance coming from outside.

 

When the plate is empty, you feel the food sit in your stomach with a pleasant but nauseating feeling. You might vomit, only because you can’t remember the last time you’d eaten so much. It was filling, you remember. 

 

It’s definitely not cheap supermarket food, but it’s a good match in tastiness value. You might end up throwing up everything you eat anyway, over the pure fact you had nerves settling inside of you uneasily. Every time you thought about your old friends, you get a pang of longing and guiltiness. 

 

Kukui is standing before you register it, and you presume that it meant it was time to go. So you’re standing as well, prepared to leave, but Kukui pressed a hand to your chest, nudging you back. Strangely enough, he looked serious. Even worried.

 

“Go to the bathroom. Stay there until I come get you.”

 

Your heart thumped hard, and you’re turning your head every which way, but it only took seconds to see what was going on outside of the pancake shop.

 

It’s Moon, and she’s on the ground, wrestling with a Team Skull grunt while that Rotom is blaring out sirens. Is that what you’d been hearing? It’s screaming “Emergency, emergency!” over and over again, while other people gather around, unsure of how to help her. You’re not sure what to do yourself, as you contemplate listening to Kukui and going to the bathroom to hide out, but there’s something almost like determination that wormed its way into your heart, and suddenly, you’re pushing Kukui aside.

 

You still don’t know who Moon is really. She’s a cute girl with dark hair with a creepy Rotom as her friend, is all you know. But this is too far. When did they start outright attacking people?

 

“Get to the bathroom!” Kukui called after you, but you’re outside before you can register the feeling of the sun on your face.

 

Moon has the man by his hair, yanking it harshly between her small hands. It looked painful, but the grunt swung his elbow with brute force, knocking her across her face.

 

You stomp your foot.

 

“Hey! You’re looking for me, not her!”

 

The grunt froze in place, and then raised his head to look at you. You cross your arms, and Mimikyu came to stand at your side. You don’t have to look under his mask to know there’s a grin there that’s growing wickedly. You feel your nerves rising, and seconds later Kukui came out of the shop in a rush, standing by your side with a loud huff. Rockruff is beside him, back arched and growling. Kukui doesn’t seem too pleased you hadn’t listened to him. You hope it doesn’t affect anything between the two of you later.

 

“Well, ain’t this a find. I was just gonna snatch the girl’s bag and run but here you come. Are ya stupid?”

 

“I could be asking the same thing.” You mumble back, not loud enough for him to hear. He seemed to be amused by that, the fact you hardly had enough courage to talk back. 

 

“Let’s not cause a big scene,” Kukui said. “Just let the girl go, and we can move on.”

 

“Sure.”

 

The grunt stood, using the end of his boot to kick Moon in the back as he straightened out his posture. Rotom floated down to Moon’s side, asking her if she was alright. Moon looked, more or less, the most pissed she’s ever looked since you’d met her. 

 

“Guzma’s still lookin’ for ya. You're his top priority.”

 

You swallow back any anxiety.

 

“And?”

 

“Come with me, and it’ll be easier on ya. Runnin’ away for this long prob’ly ain’t help any, but y’know.”

 

Kukui put his hand on your shoulder.

 

“Get Moon, and get out of here, I’ll handle this - “

 

You’re pulling up your wrist before you think about it. You let the grunt see the Z-Crystal sparkle in the early morning sunlight.

 

He laughed.

 

“What? That s’pposed to make me scared?”

 

He acted like it was nothing, but you don’t miss the look of slight intimidation that gleamed in his eyes. No one would just bat a simple eye at a Z-Crystal. He knew very well what the power of a Z-Move was obviously because he was in Team Skull. Every single one of those grunts hated that kind of power with a passion. Only because they could never have it for themselves. They always looked down upon you for keeping your Z-Ring and Z-Crystal. 

 

There was a time you were going to throw it away, but Mimikyu had stopped you. You’re very glad on that day that you decided not to, choosing to keep it hidden and away from the sight of other grunts. 

 

The grunt took out a Poke Ball, tossing it in the air and releasing his Salazzle, who hissed pleasantly at the sight of you and Mimikyu. No doubt she also acknowledged what the both of you had done, all the more ready to help her trainer bring you to justice. 

 

It will, however, make him afraid to cross you again. As it should the rest of them.

 

Kukui stood back, and Mimikyu’s instincts for this kind of thing took over. No doubt he’s worried about you since what happened the other night, but this time, you know the both of you can do it. It added to the connection that formed between the two of you in a swirl of emotion. It has to happen, you think, as the warm, familiar energy surrounded the both of you. You’re sure this time you can really use Ghostium Z again.

 

It’s a build up, it’s the way you have to move that comes all together seamlessly that made you remember something from back in time, when you performed this move just to show off what you and Mimikyu could truly do. The people that were originally surrounding the area scattered, though stayed close to watch what was happening. A child was clinging to his mother in fear, unsure of what might happen with the dark swirls suddenly sweeping under the feet of everyone in the area. 

  
  


You take a deep breath, hold it as you close your eyes, and when you open them, you feel the energy come to a peak. 

 

And unlike before, Mimikyu unleashed the move.

 

It’s the shadows that pooled around your feet that made you smile the most wicked you had in a while, especially after both the Salazzle and grunt’s eyes widen in fear as the shadows consumed them both, the arms of darkness busting out of the ground beneath them to trap them in the attack. There’s a yelp, and then brief silence as the energy from before died down.

 

Your body feels like it has static all over it, and you’re cold despite the warm air around you. You’re tired, but you wait for the dust that stirred up to settle down to see what happened.

 

All you can see is a dizzy grunt, and the Salazzle was on the ground, having been knocked out by the attack. There’s weariness that overcame you, but you don’t feel like you’re going to faint.

 

It all rushed into your heart at once in a huge swell of pride. You know Mimikyu must be feeling this way as well. It made you afraid as well, seeing as you definitely weren’t getting off of Guzma’s blacklist any time soon now, but despite everything that’s happened before, you’d finally done something to balance out all the injustice that you’d done before in the name of Team Skull.

 

You’d successfully performed a Z-Move again, and you would keep doing it too.

 

“Precious?! What’d ya do to my Precious?!” The grunt cried out desperately in a tone that almost sounded like a whine, his voice cracking at the peak of his scream as he scrambled for his Salazzle, who merely hummed in return, completely out of it. The grunt tapped her Poke Ball against her and returned her to it, tucking the ball away.

 

The grunt stood, taking deep, heaving breaths. He was panicking. Your eyes met, and you feel almost happy that he looked afraid. You yourself know you’re still afraid as well, but you keep your gaze stern. 

 

The grunt looked at you as he backed up in a hurry.

 

“Y-You’ll regret this! Guzma will get vengeance for my Precious one day!”

 

It may be said out of desperation, but those words burned their way into your mind still. 

 

He’s running off in a hurry before you can think about replying. Instead, you take a deep breath, a slight ache at the front of your skull. Mimikyu approached you, bopping his head against your leg to get your attention. You look down at him, and then reached down to gently pat his head. Reassurance that you were fine, and that you weren’t going to blackout this time. You don’t even feel sick from your meal anymore. 

  
That energy was  _ great _ . You forgot how good it felt to use a Z-Move. 

 

“Moon!”

 

Kukui is running forward the moment the coast is clear, Rockruff following closely behind, yapping excitedly. 

 

Moon is standing once more, rubbing at her forehead.

 

“Are you alright?!” Kukui asked, reaching out to move her hand away from where she was holding her head to run his fingertips gently across there. You wince the moment Moon does. The bump on her forehead is visible from here. 

 

Moon nodded.

 

“Yeah. I’m fine. When he tackled me, I bumped my head on the ground.”

 

“Feel tired any?”

 

Moon shook her head.

 

“Nah, I’m okay. Um…”

 

Moon looked toward you. You turn your gaze away, all the sudden all too aware of your surroundings, and that previous fear intensified somewhat. 

 

You just did that in  _ public _ , you remember, as people come forward slowly. Only a second later, and they’re clapping, having just witnessed what might be considered a hero-like action. You didn’t technically save Moon, as obviously the tough little girl probably could have wrestled the noodle armed grunt to the center of the earth if she wanted to, but you smile anyway. You think you’d prefer to be seen as a hero by people around you right now anyway.

 

Moon came forward.

 

“Thanks. I appreciate it. I guess… you’re feeling better?”

 

Right. The last time you used a Z-Move…

 

You nodded. There’s anxiety fluttering in your chest from all the attention. You feel proud though, bowing your head slightly toward the crowd. Kukui is definitely beaming, previous irritation from you running out and confronting your fears melting away as he walked forward and gave you a proud thumbs up.

 

Maybe today wouldn’t be so bad after all.

 

“You…!”

 

In the distance, there’s a voice that barely cracks over the noise of the cheers from the crowd. You feel like you might recognize it, but you turn your head every which way, trying to locate where it came from among the plethora of people that surrounded you. It’s when you lock eyes with her in the distance that your heart stopped completely.

 

Now  _ this  _ is what you were afraid of.

 

Mallow stood there, groceries and school bag clutched closely to her body, eyes wide in shock.

 

All of the sudden, you were nauseous again.

 

**.** **.** **.**

“Well…”

 

Hau shifted from one foot to the other.

 

This was going to be so bad for him. He’s a good kid, and you have to believe him! Hau ate all of his greens and shared his malasada with the wild Pokemon that came up to investigate him! And especially he’s always home before Tutu said he have to be there!

 

But, uh…

 

He never made it home last night. 

 

Tutu was going to let him have it for sure when he got back, but it’s even worse now that they’re standing at the front door of Professor Kukui’s house. While no one was home. Right. They had school today, Hau remembered. 

 

Hau convinced Gladion to wait a day since it was already so late, but it definitely took some major arguing on Hau’s side. Gladion didn’t seem too happy that Hau was arguing with him, but he threw himself down on the small bed of the motel room and told him that as soon as he woke up, be it the middle of the night or early morning, they would leave. Hau tried to leave, but Gladion insisted he stay so they can leave together whenever Gladion woke up.

 

Hau slept uncomfortable in a small rickety chair at the cheap table. It wasn’t technical sleep, since he kept dozing in and out, too uncomfortable have gotten any actual sleep. Hau eventually retired to the floor, getting a good two hours of sleep over nothing at least.

 

Hau felt horrible about never coming back. His grandfather was never going to let him do something like this ever again.

 

But Hau was capable of taking care of himself! Gladion had Pokemon (or… Hau believed it to be, of course, because he’s never seen that weird thing before). 

 

“They’re staying here.” Hau tried, seeing as Gladion was nowhere near pleased about the fact no one was answering the door. He looked like he was considering breaking into the house, and Hau was not about to be caught up in something like that. 

 

“I know that for sure because Professor Kukui told me. Um, if you wait a little bit, school will be over and I’m sure they’ll come straight back here - “

 

Hau tried walking off as he was talking, but Gladion reached out grasped his wrist. He looked, more or less, pissed off. Hau felt his shoulders sink.

 

“School. Take me there. Now.” Gladion barked.

 

“What?! We can’t bother a classroom and drag a student out!”

 

Gladion cast him an odd glance. Hau felt judged by the stare.

 

“...Didn’t you try and do that yesterday?”

 

Hau cringed.

 

“Well… yeah, but we can’t do it again! Besides, where are you taking them?”

 

Gladion shoved his hands back into his pockets after letting go of Hau’s wrist. He seemed to contemplate whether or not to answer Hau. 

 

Answers - whether Hau got them or note - wouldn’t be enough to get Hau out of trouble with his grandfather when he got back home. Hau was going to lucky if Tutu went easy on him. This was really going to get him in trouble if he didn’t go home  _ now _ . He’d be ridiculous if he thought Tutu wasn’t going to give him a stern talking to, and something like that from a man as nice as his grandfather was as scary as something could be. 

 

“We’re going back home. I don’t care if Professor what’s-his-face is taking care of them. They’re safer with me.”

 

Well, this is confusing. What’s going on? There was probably no safer place then with someone like Professor Kukui. Why was Gladion more capable than him over something like that?

 

“What? Safe? Did something happen?” Hau asked as Gladion reached out to grab Hau once more, beginning to drag them away from the house, toward the direction of the school building in the distance. 

 

“It’s none of your business.” Gladion growled. Hau did his best to keep up with him. 

 

“Here’s what’s going to happen: You’re going to go in there and ask for them, and when they come outside, we make our escape quietly. And then you can go home.”

 

“S-So I’m like… a hostage?!” Hau stuttered. There’s an annoyed, irritated sigh, and Gladion shook his head. 

 

“No, you idiot. You’re just helping me fix this. You want to help, don’t you?”

 

Hau’s heart clenched at hearing the words. They stabbed where they would be most effective on him. Well, of course he did want to help.

 

Hau almost sighed loudly, only because he knew what that meant.

 

He probably wasn’t going to be home for lunch, either.

 

**.** **.** **.**

There’s awkward silence among the entire group, you notice, as you all walk in silence. Mimikyu is waddling close by your side and Rotom is near your head again. Weird, creepy thing. Moon is next to you, clutching her almost-stolen school bag close to her chest protectively, never letting her grip up for even a moment. She was obviously counting her blessings from not having her Popplio and the rest of her stuff stolen. She was a tough girl, but no matter who you are, that kind of incident can make you shaken up. 

 

Kukui made sure for a few minutes before they kept walking that she would be fine at school. He even offered to walk her home if she didn’t feel up to school now, but Moon insisted she’d be fine, and that she’d talk to her mom about it when she got home. Kukui nodded, and all at once, they kept walking in the direction of the building.

 

Mallow was purely silent, staring at her groceries with intensity. She didn’t look at you, and you didn’t make an effort to look at her. You only remember the warm smile she’d greet you with every morning, and suddenly that previous guilt from before returned. You swallow harshly and keep walking. Kukui couldn’t coddle you forever, but god you wish his reassurance from earlier had gotten through to you. Of course nothing was going back to normal right away when you first start back here. Heck, you had no idea that you were coming back today anyway. Kukui must have known you were going to try and reject it all and told you last minute so you had no choice.

 

It’s only Mallow and you already feel this bad. You feel terrified of what you might feel like if you see everyone else once you’re at school.

 

You don’t feel so confident, despite the fact you literally just saved someone from having their Pokemon and stuff stolen. 

 

“We’re already a little late,” Kukui mentioned suddenly, finally breaking up the tension. You say nothing, merely folding your hands behind your back and continuing to walk. You don’t know why, but at any second now you might fall over. It’s not from the energy you just lost a few minutes prior, but from the definite anxiety settling in your stomach. It came in waves and left in a big sweep of air. There was no sense to it. 

 

Well. Mallow can’t technically be mad at you right now, because obviously you just saved Moon.

 

It’s when the school building came into sight that you feel an indescribable feeling come back into you. This time, it’s at the front of your head, and a small, silent breath escapes your lips in a quiet rush. 

 

It looks no different than it did when you left before, and if you closed your eyes, you bet you would see yourself just before it all happened, with a wide smile on your face as you walked inside with your book bag slung lazily over your shoulder. You’d high five Kiawe, greeting Sophocles as he furiously typed on his laptop, and receive a soft embrace from Lana as Mallow gave you that warm, warm smile.  

 

The thought hit you hard when you thought it.

 

_ I can’t do it. _

 

It’s when you reach the entrance that you stop abruptly. Mallow and Moon walk inside as Kukui held open the door. You made no effort to follow suit. Kukui gave you a confused look. He must have thought you were still carrying your courage from before, but it was shattered, laying around you like broken glass. And just like broken glass, you didn’t know if you could pick up all the pieces in time before someone got hurt.

 

“Aren’t you coming?”

 

You took a step back.

 

_ No _ .

 

You couldn’t do this.

 

You take another step back and Kukui let go of the door. He had to be suspecting this too, seeing as you weren’t so open to the idea this morning. He’s probably prepared for plenty of other things that are at risk for happening today, and panicking for one of them was probably the one he was betting on most for happening. If there’s one thing you wished Kukui had done, it would have been that he talked to you about it beforehand before dragging you back to this place. Or given you more time before you came back. 

 

Kukui had turned and told the two to head to class, that he’d be there in a moment.

 

He always had a gentle approach. He was very calm when he spoke, despite not being pleased with you earlier.

 

“You’re gonna be fine.” Kukui said. “Just come on in.”

 

You shake your head. You feel your own face flush pale, and you swallow harshly. There’s tears building up in the corners of your eyes. You don’t feel good. Your heart rate began to pick up, and Mimikyu came between the two of you, as if to silently offer to protect you.

 

“I...I can’t.”

 

“You can. C’mon, I’ll be there too.”

 

You can hardly believe yourself. You can stand up to the people who are on a literal witch hunt for you but can’t face some people you betrayed in the past who should, more or less knowing them, forgive you if you just proved yourself. There’s something about it that felt unusual. Maybe it’s your own regret that’s holding you back, how you feel about yourself. 

 

You believed personally that you shouldn’t forgive yourself, so maybe you’re projecting those feelings onto everyone else. 

 

Kukui reached out, probably to embrace you like you had before, but you step out of it, away from him and his reach. He doesn’t seem offended by it, but it probably complicated things for him on how to convince you to come inside. If he hugged you right now, it would be overwhelming, and you don’t want to have a mental breakdown at the worst place possible. You can’t have a repeat of what happened the other night. 

 

Plus, you don’t want anyone you know to see you like this just yet, and you especially don’t want them to see Kukui trying to coddle you. It’d be wrong for them to see someone who was at one point a technical villain being comforted by their beloved professor. 

 

If there’s one thing you’ll forevermore refuse Kukui to comfort you about, it’s your own actions. You shouldn’t be forgiven for that. But you can make up for it. You’re just thankful you never went as far as to physically hurt someone like the rest of the grunts had no morals for. Or even Guzma.

 

The worst person possible to think about right now.

 

“I know you’ve had a hard time lately, but no one here would do anything to you. You can be closer to me, if it makes you feel comfortable.”

 

You manage to hold back the tears that are threatening to slip out.

 

For some reason, you almost feel compelled. You think it might help to be closer to him. And it’s obvious at this point you’re not walking back by yourself and Kukui had a class to teach, so he couldn’t take the time to take you back to his house. You’d be too nervous after that incident earlier to do it by yourself. You’re shaking slightly, but you walk forward again, allowing Kukui to give you a brief, reassuring hug.

 

You’re both walking toward the door in silence, and you feel your shakiness go away ever so slightly.

 

Until…

 

“Alola!”

 

You turn your head slightly at the sound, up until you think it’s just a passerby calling out to someone. It’s until you see Hau that you feel your heart thump hard.

  
It’s when you see Gladion that you lose strength in your knees. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is 7,000+ words l o rd.
> 
> i got asked this but y'all are welcome to draw art for this. or... whatever you could draw of this lol? i didn't think there could be much fanart made of this.
> 
> also random fact. a friend of mine was hit by a car today. that was a mess. she's okay though, cause she only got some road burn. not as bad as the accident two years ago with ANOTHER friend of mine who got hit by a car. now that had him air lifted to the hospital, and even though he's healed up, he can't move his last three toes cause of the damage.
> 
> a mess.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS SO COMPLICATED but ask questions if you need to im prepared to answer them.
> 
> itstrickstersugar.tumblr.com
> 
> im so happy to finally share this with you all ahhh


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